Whirlpool of sound
by Ikaruga
Summary: Surviving the terrible night of Kyuubi's sealing. Kushina is taken away from her son and then sold to Orochimaru. There, she is turned into his successor. Thirteen years later, she returns for revenge and her son. Inspired by a story from Vanex.
1. Chapter 1

Whirlpool of Sound.

Inspired by : The Uzumaki Otokage by Vanex, who had taken up a challenge from Mystic 6 Tailed Naruto

Kushina could not believe her eyes as her _loving_ husband finished sealing the giant demon fox in front of them into their newborn son. Completely ignoring her pleas for the beast to be sealed within herself to destroy both herself and the beast.

Despite being exhausted from having the beast ripped out of her, and holding down the beast for her husband to seal it away, she slowly staggered her way to the ceremonial throne where her baby boy laid wailing to the uncaring heavens.

"Dammit Minato" she grunted out as she saw the spiral design of the seal on the boys stomach. Still trying to comprehend the man she loved between the man that ruthlessly told her Konoha needed a jinchūriki. "What was I to you…" she silently whimpered as she fell to her knees next to her newborn son. "…a wife to be loved or just a way to keep Konoha's weapon loyal"

Several thuds alerted her to ninja's landing close by, raising her gaze from her son, she saw Danzo and several men with blank masks. "Oh all the old men that could find me…" Kushina cursed under her breath. She might not like Hiruzen for the neglect towards her homeland, but she really, really didn't like Danzo the warhawk. And she already had a solid idea what the sorry excuse of humanity was thinking the way he eyed her son.

Before she could raise a protest and defend her son, darkness engulfed her.

* * *

As Danzo ordered his men to take the fourth's Hokage wife away. He knelt down beside the crying boy, inspecting the masterpiece on the stomach. Pleased that the young 4th Hokage at least made a new jinchuriki with such a strong heritage. He was almost giddy with the idea of molding the boy into Konoha's ultimate weapon.

"DANZO!"

Muffling a curse, he turned around to see his rival Sarutobi Hiruzen approach with a squad of ANBU. "What are you doing here" Hiruzen asked with a scowl.

"I was inspecting the seal Hiruzen" Danzo replied coolly, a believable excuse, being one of the best seal users after the 4th and his master Jiraya.

The deepening of the scowl and the frigid look in Hiruzen's eyes told Danzo he didn't buy it.

"And?" Hiruzen asked, keeping up public appearances for the approaching forces.

"The seal is a masterpiece, the boy is the container of the Kyuubi no Yoko" Danzo spoke a bit too loudly for everyone to hear, omitting the fact that the beast would be perfectly contained, leaving the more clueless members of the crowd to make their own conclusions.

'With a bit of pushing, confusion will turn to hatred, and Hiruzen will be forced to hand the boy over to me' Danzo though with an inward smirk, and judging by the gritting of Hiruzen's teeth, he knew Danzo's game.

Hiruzen walked away from the orphanage he just left Konoha's newest jinchūriki. Deep in thought, he wondered where Kushina was, to his paining heart they already found his wife Biwako buried beneath the rubble where Kushina gave birth. As family centric the Uzumaki's where, he was certain Kushina would not abandon her son.

It was just one of the many questions of the painful long night however, why did the seal break while Minato was there? How did Kyuubi so suddenly appear next to the great walls? A beast of such stature would be heard, seen and felt through the ground as it approached.

Yet somehow, the beast appeared next to the walls, like somebody summoned it. But no-one could summon Kyuubi… right?

* * *

Several weeks later: Underground hideout.

'A calculated risk' Danzo reminded himself as he, and two of his strongest ROOT waited in the dark room for a snake to appear.

"ku ku ku ku" Rang through the room, the haunting sound appearing from a pale snakelike man.

"Orochimaru"

"Danzo" Orochimaru replied "You have an intriguing request" the man spoke smoothly "But what do I get in return?"

In response, Danzo gestured to his men, one of which opened a large scroll, with a poof and a gust of smoke. Kushina lay before them.

"I have heard you are collecting people with Uzumaki blood for some reason" Danzo spoke, before he could go on, he was interrupted by the snake man "Live Uzumaki Danzo, with Kyuubi's appearance a couple of weeks ago, which sadly failed to destroy the village…" Orochimaru spoke with a mock sigh "…she is quite dead, jinchūriki don't survive the loss of their beast after all."

"Wrong"

Orochimaru eyes widened in surprise, and slowly made it towards the woman's body, expertly taking her vital signs, and to his surprise and joy, the wife of his rival for the Hokage seat was alive.

"ku ku ku ku" Orochimaru chuckled in joy "I accept your offer Danzo, come back in two weeks here, and I will give you the mokuton implant."

Nodding in agreement, Danzo watched the snake pick up the woman and disappear into the shadows.

"The roots must be strong for the leafs to prosper" Danzo spoke to himself.

* * *

Several more weeks later: Orochimaru's hideout.

With a cough and a curse Orochimaru checked the last ditch attempt to save his life. And once again, despite the prime specimen used, it had failed. His quest to immortality would ironically claim his life.

Cursing all way as he walked towards his study, Orochimaru was for once lost at what he could do. Ever since the takeover of his first host body, he knew something had gone wrong, and now he was slowly dying, every day he could feel his life force slowly leak out of him.

His first attempt to avoid that fate with to jump to another body, but nothing changed. After several other attempts he found out it only fastened the process, each take over harder than the first. Unsure if he could survive another one, he tried other things, medicine, experiments and artifacts.

But nothing worked.

As a last attempt he tried to tap into the potent life force of the Uzumaki clan. Sadly the said clan was betrayed during the second shinobi war, left to die by Konoha as Kiri and Kumo descended upon the strong island nation like a large pack of wolves after the village suffered significant casualties aiding Konoha.

And instead of aiding Uzushio like Uzushio aided Konoha, Hiruzen decided to let the whirlpool spin to its end. Konoha already had a new young jinchuriki host, and saw no further reason to aid their longtime allies.

Finding survivors was hard, long work. In the end he found two, both where however not related to the main family that truly enjoyed the benefits of the clan. So when Danzo came around with the princess of the main family, whose body was further strengthened by whatever Bjuu do to make their hosts stronger, Orochimaru was sure he found a solution.

But it wasn't.

That meant in half a dozen or so years Orochimaru would die. The very thought of that spouted another stream of curses from the normally composed man.

After a while, Orochimaru calmed down again and started to think about his future calmly. The time he had left was too short to properly build up a force to could destroy Konoha. Attempting to entice Iwa into attacking their archenemy was unlikely, they were rebuilding themselves from the damage the Yellow Flash did. Kumo suffered from a recent Bjuu rampage themselves. And Kiri was at the verge of civil war and Suna where Konoha's allies and had no reason to poke the giant. Always having been the weakest of the great five after the second war.

That meant he had to make a successor of his legacy.

"But who" Orochimaru murmured to himself as he leafed through his personnel files. Kabuto, the young genius came to mind, but Orochimaru did not trust the boy. The others were not that brilliant or had no reason to burn the leaf.

'Unless' Orochimaru thought 'I tell them half and full truths to make them hate the leaf' Chuckling to himself, he walked back to his lab, and soon started to awake a certain redhead.

* * *

Kushina groaned as she came to, her body feeling weak and stiff. Instead of the expected white from a hospital ceiling, she saw a dark roof. "Where am I?" the woman managed to croak out.

"Welcome to my hideout Kushina" a voice spoke silkily.

"Orochimaru" she spat as soon she saw the well-known snake traitor. In response, the man merely chuckled. "Why did you kidnap me" she demanded hotly as she tried to pull herself up.

"I did not kidnap you" Orochimaru replied smoothly. Hearing the disbelieving snort "People in the leaf where more than happy to hand you over in exchange for my services."

At this Kushina's eyes widened, replayed her most recent memories before coming to a conclusion "Danzo" she growled.

"Correct" Orochimaru mock praised. He wanted to speak more, but the woman before him started panicking,

"My son, what about my son?! Did that one-eyed bastard get his hands on my son?!"

"Your son?" Orochimaru blinked in confusion, before connecting the dots "The 4th used his own son" he chuckled out before taken by surprise by the death-glare from Kushina.

"That bastard lost his right to be my sons father the moment he decided to seal the kyuubi into _my son _for Konoha" Kushina spat as she wobbly got off the slab she lay upon.

"I need to find Naruto" Kushina spoke as she tried to hobble to the exit, before she was pushed back into the slab.

"It's far too late for that. "Orochimaru spoke calmly "The sealing happened nearly two months ago" At this Kushina's eyes widened in fear.

"Furthermore" Orochimaru plowed on "Do you truly think Danzo would allow you to return to Konoha?" The fire in Kushina's eyes told him she hardly cared. 'Time too bend the truth a bit' Orochimaru chuckled in his mind.

"Or Hiruzen for that matter" Orochimaru continued, taking delight in Kushina's confusion. "While he kept the boy out of Danzo's paws, he did spread the fact the boy is Kyuubi's jinchuriki." Kushina's gasp told him she knew exactly how hard the boy life would be.

Meanwhile Orochimaru took a mock thinking pose "It's almost like… he wants to give Konoha a scapegoat." Egging Kushina on to make the wrong conclusions, by the time she figured it out, he would be dead anyways.

"So what do you want from me?" Kushina demanded, motherly rage getting the better of her. "Turn me into an experiment?!"

Orochimaru shakes his head "I have much bigger plans for you Kushina" Seeing her enraged expression, he held up his hands in a pacifying gesture "I want you to become my successor"

The statement shocked Kushina from her rage "Why?"

"I am dying Kushina" Orochimaru responded calmly "I made a fatal error, and death is the price"

"Why me?"

"Because my time is short, and your potential is great"

"Then what about lackey's or Anko, as your abandoned student she would make a better successor?" Kushina pressed. At Anko's name Orochimaru's face darkened. "I did not abandon her, she made her choice to delay my pursuers."

"Then why do her memories claim otherwise?" Kushina asked skeptically, at this Orochimaru rolled his eyes.

"The Yamanaka clan can do more than just enter your mind, removing, adding and altering memories is child's play for experienced users."

"Oh" was the intelligent response.

Deciding to push her more "I am currently building my own village with respective forces, furthermore I already have spies in the leaf"

Seeing Kushina was catching on, he pushed on "I can order them to keep an eye out on your baby boy, and when you become my successor, you can take that power to take back your son. Perhaps even take revenge on Hiruzen for what he did to Uzushio"

Seeing the woman deep in thought, he asked once more

"So Kushina, will you become my successor?"

…..

…..

"I will"


	2. Chapter 2

Twelve years later: Land of Waves

Naruto hissed as he massaged his arms, that yesterday where turned into porcupines by Haku, Zabuza's accomplice during the battle on the half-finished bridge. The result of the battle left both of them dead, Sasuke porcupine'd, Kakashi exhausted, the local midget overlord Gato dead and him, Naruto, the hero of the land of waves. Despite the rest of his teams attempts to make Kakashi and Sasuke look like the hero's.

"Are you alright Naruto?" Tsunami, the bridge builders daughter asked worried

Gracing the kind woman with a genuine smile "I am fine Tsunami, Thanks for asking"

Feeling his arms a bit more, he decided he needed to use more of his loveable, sealed in your stomach, fuzzball's power to properly heal his arms before Kakashi allowed Sasuke to 'challenge' Naruto again.

"I am heading out for a bit" Naruto said to Tsunami

"Where are you going Naruto" Came the hateful tone from Kakashi, including a glare from the lone eye. His other sharingan eye hidden behind his tilted headband. Plastering on a fake smile he gave all the Kyuubi haters . "I am just going around town to get some fresh air and walk off the soreness from all those needles" he spoke with fake cheer. "That's not a problem is it?"

Getting another glare from Kakashi, but no denial. Naruto waves to Tsunami and runs off while Kakashi turned around and checked on the still knocked out Sasuke.

Tsunami could only sigh at the exchange, she couldn't understand why the slightly loud, but reasonably polite Naruto would be so hated by his own team. A sentiment the otherwise cheerful boy seemed more than willing to return.

The rage she saw in the boys eyes when her son Inari started whining about the unfairness of life made it quite clear Naruto knew way more about suffering then a twelve year old should. But the rest of his team either didn't know, or choose to ignore it like Sakura did.

Tsunami just wished she could do something.

* * *

Talking pleasantly and waving off praises was a new, but very pleasant experience for Naruto. Who reveled in the positive attention he got the villagers. Unlike the constant hatred, glaring and abuse he normally got back home.

'Maybe I should injure Sasuke a bit more so we could stay here longer' Naruto mused 'Kakashi wants to go back to that hellhole as soon as possible for some reason.' Naruto soon squashed that idea, he was far to kindhearted despite everything to do something like that. Despite his unpleasant upbringing with very few friends.

Moving out of town, and doing his utmost to make sure he wasn't spied upon, he gently drew upon Kyuubi's power, channeling to his arms who took the brunt of all the needles Haku tossed around. As usual, the beast took this opportunity to 'talk' to him.

**You could just use my power to destroy that 'hellhole'**

Ignoring the mindreading beast, he focused the demonic charka on his arms

**One of these days you will use my power! **The beast roared, not taking kindly to being ignored.

'I told you before, I am not going to rely on your power'

A thunderous snort echoed through his mind **One of these days you will realize power is the only thing that counts in this world, and you will come begging to me!**

Naruto barked a short laugh 'Never' before he stopped pulling on Kyuubi's power and settled down, it would take a while before the connection closed again. And the last thing he wanted was getting caught talking to the beast. Despite being the evidence they weren't the same as Konoha seemed to think.

A deep growl emanated from Kyuubi **You are just like my previous hosts. Never using my power unless I force it upon you.**

Naruto startled in surprise, usually his shorts conversations over the years was Kyuubi offering power, Naruto ignoring it and so forth, rarely breaching other subjects, unless it was advice that Naruto had to admit kept him safe, like playing ignorant about being Kyuubi's host in the first place until Mizuki conveniently revealed it to him.

Losing himself in the recent memories, he remembered playing along with the obvious fake second exam after the normal one was so clearly sabotaged, he nicked the forbidden scroll, learned a neat jutsu from it, got Mizuki to reveal the so badly hidden secret about his jinchuriki status and got a dubious 'friendship' with Iruka, an original Kyuubi hater who admitted he was wrong.

Didn't mean the bastard did something with it, aside from giving some free ramen he never bothered making up for ignoring all the sabotage attempts.

**Now that I think about** the beast went on, ignorant of Naruto's moment of introspective **Your family name is Uzumaki isn't it?**

'Yes, what about it?' Naruto responded in his thoughts, still unsure when Kyuubi was going.

**Hrmph, my previous host Uzumaki Kushina was a fiery, loud woman with an unhealthy love for that slop you call ramen. Heh, you could be her son.** The fox spoke carelessly.

Excited he might learn something about his family, Naruto drew a tiniest sliver of Kyuubi's power to keep the link open. 'What happened to her?!'

**She is dead** the beast spoke bluntly, taking delight in Naruto's deflated expression. Deciding to elaborate **No host survives the extraction of the tailed beast. **

Naruto tsked in disappointment, trust Kyuubi to ruin something positive into something horrible. Still, he trusted the enormous being of chakra more than he did to anyone else, so far the fox stayed true to his promise to only speak the truth as it knew it.

**Still… you are probably her son, crazy woman was birthing a child shortly before I was released.**

Naruto sighed. 'Well atleast I know my mother's name now.' The beast already having told him about the events as far as it knew to him.

Stopping the draw of power, Naruto mediated until he felt that presence disappear from the back of his mind while formulating a decent response to give to the old lying man Hokage about the power he got from Kyuubi when things became too sticky for the beasts opinion.

Satisfied he could talk his way out of it should the old man get suspicious, Naruto headed back to Tsunami's house.

* * *

Ignoring the obvious biased debriefing in front of the Hokage. Naruto barely held in a snicker as the last two sharingan users in Konoha embellished their efforts. 'Oh the irony when I tell them that the reason Kyuubi attacked Konoha was that damn pinky eye.' Naruto thought as Sasuke showed off his eyes, while Sakura squealed in delight and Kakashi nodded in pride.

Afterwards Naruto spun a convincing story how Sasuke's knockout by Haku's needles convinced him he died as the duckbutt haired bastard tried to hide behind him pushed him into a rage that caused him to go berserk on Haku.

That Naruto was in full control was something the Hokage and Kakashi did not need to know.

Both the old monkey and the copycat bought the story. And reminded him not to depend on the power of the dangerous fox, because he could hurt his friends and allies. 'Like I have that many' Naruto snorted to himself.

As Naruto was dismissed, he heard Hiruzen remind Kakashi about the Chuunin exam's, freezing Naruto's blood ice-cold as he stiffly kept walking. 'No way the 'team' is ready for that. Dammit, that single pinkeye will sign us up for the duel pinky eyes.' Naruto ranted to himself.

Naruto was fairly aware what the chuunin exams contained, having paid attention to the contestants around 3 years ago when they happened in Konoha. Still, he needed advice and quickly made his way to the hospital to find his longtime friend Kabuto.

Sneaking his way past the inattentive chuunin guards, he soon made his way to the break room, hoping Kabuto would still be having dinner before he started his evening shift.

Lady luck was once again on his side, and he saw the grey haired boy cleaning up the dishes behind himself. "Hey Kabuto!" Naruto hollered carelessly through the room. Kabuto sighed and turned around to face the blond boy. "Naruto-kun" he spoke, his voice soft "What did I say about your manners?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Sorry, Good afternoon Kabuto-san" he recited. Kabuto chuckled in response "You will learn one day Naruto-kun, why did you come here?" "The Chuunin examns are coming up, and I am sure Cyclops will sign us up." Kabuto nodded, agreeing with his logic. "I don't think the team is ready. Me and duckbutt.." the nickname got a disapproving look from Kabuto ".. might be strong enough, but the stupid thing is a team efford, which we clearly aren't."

Kabuto frowned, he was under orders to convince the entire team to participate. "Don't worry too much Naruto-kun, the final part is nearly always an individual showcasing of skills, judged by chuunin and jonin."

Kabuto's words had the opposite effect than he intended, and Naruto deflated further. "I might as well not bother. It's not like they'll promote the 'demon boy'. No use risking my life just to get duckbutt promoted." Kabuto withheld an improper word, wishing he could smack himself for making such a mistake, taking another tack. He sighed in agreement. "That might be true Naruto-kun, but think about the trouble you will get into if you don't show up."

"Heh, like that pinky eyed Cyclops trains me." Naruto complained, but before Kabuto could respond "But you are right, as always. Thanks for the help as always Kabuto." Remembering Kabuto's efforts to teach him manners, he bowed slightly. Kabuto beamed that his lifelong efforts finally had some results. Before coming back to earth and remembering his mission. "Naruto-kun, whatever happens, keep an open mind." He spoke, before turning back to his dishes, ignoring the confused look Naruto shot him.

Knowing Kabuto could be cryptic time from time, he decided to remember the advice, and quickly snuck out of the hospital.

* * *

As the starting date of the chuunin exams approached, Naruto slowly gained the hope Kakashi showed up late to whatever registration was supposed to happen, and the 'team' would not participate.

Of course, in typical Kakashi fashion, on the day before it started, he appeared with forms in his hand, cheerfully informing the team to fill them in and appear at room 301 the next day. Before disappearing again, leaving the group who waited for 3 hours just to receive some forms.

Predictably, Sasuke stormed off, intent to train. Followed quickly by his pink haired groupie. Leaving Naruto behind on the field. Who looked at the form like it was a death sentence.

"What to do" He started to mumble to himself, replaying Kabuto's advice in his head. Lost in thought, he did not sense a person approaching him.

"Era era, Thinking about the chuunin exams?" a female voice called out, shocking Naruto out of his thoughts, whirling about, he saw a bright red-headed woman with blue eyes with black pupils that had a slit in them. Despite her long hair, she wore plain grey garbs with a jounin vest. Indicating her rank, her headband a musical note on it.

"Uh.. yes, yes I am…I am not sure if I should take them.." Naruto hastily answers, still distracted by the, in his opinion, beautiful hair.

"And why would you not? You should be strong enough" Seeing Naruto's frown at the question "Surely Konoha trained its jinchūriki well." The woman drawled on carelessly.

Naruto, shocked, took a step back. "Who are you, how did you know?"

The woman laughed "Why Naruto-chan, nearly everybody in Konoha knows about the little fox inside you, surely you didn't think the rest of the world would not pick that up? As for my name… Kensaku Oto, jounin of the genin team from Oto."

Naruto felt like banging his head against a rock for the first part. 'Like I need an even bigger target on my back. Hello World, I am the container of the nine tailed evil fox of doom' he thought sarcastically. At the second part he narrowed his eyes at the obvious alias.

"Well, what do you want?" he asked rudely. Still unnerved about his secret known to the rest of the world.

"Era era, I bring a message from your mother" the woman replied. "My mother is dead" Naruto interrupted. "Era, you know who your parents are?" the woman asked surprised. Naruto was silent for a moment, weighing his curiosity for this supposed 'message' against giving away information, he decided to play safe. "Only my mother's name, and that she could not survive the night I was born."

She slightly tilted her head, processing his response before a slight smile made it to her face. "Era, of course you'd think she didn't survive the extraction of the beast." Smiling further when Naruto took another step back in surprise, his eyes the size of saucer plates. "Clearly you haven't been told about your clans bloodline limit ne?"

"Clan? Bloodline limit?!" Naruto sputtered out. 'How much did that damn fossil lie to me about?!'

"Era era, not even told about your clan?" she laughed "Haven't you heard in class or looked in the library?"

Naruto's face crunched in concentration. "No.. I never heard of it, and I did read most of the books about clans…" '…Mostly so that I know who or what I could face since nobody would teach or help me, damn fox does have good ideas time from time.'

The woman chuckled again "Era era, they really didn't tell you anything did they? Well, your mother is alive, she misses you and she will come to get you soon."

Naruto scowled "And why would she wait, Oh I don't know, 13 years?"

The humor from the woman's face disappeared. "She survived that terrible night, you were stolen from her arms by the fourth Hokage to be used for the sealing. She was kidnapped and sold away that same night. The people responsible are very important in Konoha, by the time she awoke she was far to weakened to do anything."

Naruto was taken aback by the venom in the woman's voice, but soon softened "She truly wanted you Naruto-chan, and never wanted to burden you with the Kyuubi. It is well known jinchūriki are poorly treated." She looked away, as if hearing something far away. "I have to go" she said abruptly.

"Wait.. where is she, what about my clan, who is my father?!" Naruto wanted to shoot more questions, but the woman already disappeared behind the trees. Naruto quickly ran to follow her, but she was gone.

"Make it far enough in the chuunin exams and I will answer some questions Naruto-chan"

Looking around to spot the voice, Naruto groaned in disappointment, wondering why the woman suddenly left.

His answer came twenty seconds later, as Kakashi suddenly poofed in near Naruto.

"Naruto" he spoke coldly.

"Hatake" Naruto replied evenly cold.

"I do hope you are considering to participate in the exams."

"Don't worry Hatake, I found my reasons too"

"And what might those reasons be?"

"None of your damn business" Naruto snarled

Kakashi narrowed his single eye at Naruto, clearly considering to use force to get the reason out of the boy. But he relented. "I see you tomorrow Naruto"

"Whatever" Naruto replied, still deep in thought about what the woman said.

'So I have a clan, a bloodline… I still don't know for sure who my mother is, who supposedly is kidnapped by somebody from Konoha and sold off. And I don't have a clue who my father is, and what happened to him. And apparently people in Konoha should know all of this… and that woman.'

AN:

Von Kreuz: As described, I am inspired by this story. I will follow Vanex roughly for the first few chapters with a few changes/branches. But as the story progresses, these changes will cause the story to (hopefully) branch into its own.

PS: Review motivated me to post this chapter, who knows, perhaps chapter 3 is also already done.. kukuku.


	3. Chapter 3

Kensaku Oto, or better known as Uzumaki Kushina heaved a sigh, as she tried to control the shaking of her body. The sheer terror of the thought her boy might reject her for not being there took a heavy toll on her.

"Kushina-sama?" Kabuto inquired carefully. "Are you alright?"

She smiled weakly at the ever loyal boy she freed from Danzo's clutches. Who was forced by that man to be a contact person and spy on Orochimaru. Who in turn used him as gopher boy and shoved off the more dirty and less interesting experiments on him. Kushina stopped that, she took her teachers interest in experimentation, but only took used it as 'punishment' on the scum of the earth. And did not force her people to help her in her endeavors.

"I am alright Kabuto-kun… It was harder than I thought… I just wanted to pick him up, run back to Oto and never let go."

Kabuto nodded in understanding "One more month Kushina-sama" he encouraged. It worked, Kushina's smile widened . "One more month and he'll be mine… and Konoha will pay for their transgressions."

* * *

Naruto withheld a smug smirk as he saw Sasuke pick himself up from the trashing Rock Lee handed to him. His copy eye useless against the boy's supreme speed.

'For a supposed genius, he first reveals the first obstacle of the exams, and then challenges someone who is clearly superior to him' Naruto thought to himself as the team made their way to the correct room.

Once there, they were greeted by an eye-smiling Kakashi, who took their forms. "I wish you luck, and remember, work as a team" 'And ditch that bastard foxboy as soon as you can. The sooner you die, the sooner sensei can rest in peace.'

"We will be fine!" Naruto responded with fake cheer. The Uchiha grunted, and Sakura just nodded in faux confidence.

The team walked into the room, which was slowly filling up with teams from all over the elemental nations. They were greeted with a loud "You made it! Even with the clan less dead last and all!"

Naruto bit back a scathing response, now knowing both statements were false. And settled by rolling his eyes as he saw the dog boy followed by the shy Hyuga heiress and the stoic Aburame member. Both politely greeted the team, something Naruto and Sakura returned the sentiment, while Sasuke silently kept his aloof demeanor.

Kiba continued his rant, which the rest of the group ignored. They could however not ignore the loud shriek "Sasuke-kun!" from Ino, as she barreled into the Uchiha, knocking him over.

"You rookies should keep it down" Kabuto spoke as he approached the group. "You are attracting all the attention, which isn't good in the exams." He turned towards Naruto "I see you decided to come."

Before Naruto could respond, Kiba butted in "To afraid to come Naruto eh?"

Naruto rolled his eyes again. "I wasn't sure if the team could do it Kiba. And yes Kabuto, I did thanks to your advice" Kiba snorted in response "You are the weakest, I wouldn't worry about the team."

Naruto successfully repressed the urge to proof Kiba was wrong. "Naruto-kun's worries are founded, I failed the last exam because the team did not work together."

"Ano, Kabuto-san. You did the exams before?" Sakura asked.

Kabuto laughed sheepishly "Yes I did, this would be my 7th attempt."

"Hah, Losers stick together I see" Kiba laughed at Kabuto.

"Ignore Kiba, he has a big troublesome ego. Since you have been in the exams before, could you tell us more?" Shikamaru asked, trying to gather information to make it less…troublesome.

"Of course, anything to help a fellow Konoha ninja." Kabuto responded, causing the 9 rookie ninja to gather around him. "The exam is usually in three of four parts, with the last part being a public event. Depending on how many contestants make it through, these will be one on one or team matches."

"Since I went through the exam multiple times, I gathered data on the possible enemies, anybody you want to know about?"

"Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto" Sasuke demanded to the surprise of the rest.

"Why would you want to know about that loser Sasuke, you could beat him easily." Kiba commented before Kabuto could start.

Ignoring the interruption. "Sabaku no Gaara, 14 years old, he is from Suna so I don't have too much information… Surprisingly few D-ranks, 12 C-rank missions and wow.. 2 B-rank missions. Most genin don't even do one. It also notes he has quite some control over sand, must be an unknown bloodline ability. He is the son of the current Kazekage. Pretty impressive."

Naruto wondered why Sasuke was interested in the boy, apparently having missed something. The marks around the boys eyes unsettled him, it reminded him of his own whisker marks he got from Kyuubi. 'I need to ask Kyuubi about that later, I hope it isn't too grumpy.'

"Rock Lee, 14 years old. He is Konoha so I got more information on him. He is quite good in taijutsu.. and what is this" Kabuto frowned "Apparently no talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu. You don't see that often. His teammates are Hyuga Neji and Tenten. Their sensei is Maito Guy. As a team he did a..wow quite a large amount of D-rank missions. 8 C-Rank missions and a single B-rank one. He has no bloodline abilities and his heritage is unknown as he is an orphan. Probably because of the Kyuubi attack 13 years ago."

Sasuke grunted in annoyance, the card giving no more information than before.

"Last but not least, Uzumaki Naruto, 13 years old, you know where he is from. Average scores in taijutsu, hmm, that's weird, despite his massive chakra reserves his ninjutsu knowledge is limited. Because of those reserves his genjutsu is abyssal. You also know who his teammates are. His sensei is Hatake Kakashi. As a team he did a number of D-ranks. And a C-rank turned A-Rank. Naruto also did a solo A-rank mission. His…" Kabuto recited before a shriek from Sakura interrupted "Solo A-Rank mission? No way Naruto-baka has done that."

"I did do that Sakura" Naruto said tiredly. Getting sick of people putting his hard work down.

"Hah, what did you do then, I am sure Sasuke-kun would have done better than the dobe."

"Sakura, remember the regulations." Naruto responded, getting more irritated.

"What regulations, you just didn't do that mission did you?"

"All missions above B-Rank are not allowed to be discussed in a public place, the penalty for doing so is decided by a board depending on the information released." Naruto recited. "Use that forehead of yours pinkie."

In the anger of being put in her place, Sakura lashed out, but Naruto handily dodged. Before it could escalate, Shino interfered. "Fighting now is not logical, you know why? Because that could get your team expelled" he put down plainly.

As Sakura simmered down. "As I wanted to say before I was interrupted…" Kabuto started dryly "Naruto has yet to activate the supposedly Uzumaki bloodline. His heritage is deeply classified."

Kiba was once again to speak up "Uzumaki bloodline? He is just a clan less dobe." Although the rest did not nod, they did agree in their minds. Naruto meanwhile looked betrayed. "You knew about it Kabuto? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Sorry Naruto-kun, I only read about it recently. I just read that the Uzumaki's can make their chakra solid somehow. Even if I told you, what could you do with it?" Naruto sighed and raised his hands in surrender "You are right again Kabuto, sorry for snapping at you." Kabuto merely waved it off "No problem Naruto-kun, I understand. The proctors will come soon, I am rejoining my team."

Right on cue, the doors slammed open, and in a giant puff of smoke, a large group of chuunin led by a jounin appeared. "Alright maggots! Listen and shut up! The first part of the chuunin exams start now. Enter this room and take your seat with your name on it. Those who fail to follow these simple instructions will be thrown out!"

With flair, the man turned around, walking into a large classroom. Many tables formed long lines. Each table with a single pencil and a paper on it. The chuunin hopefuls rushing after him, quickly scrambling to take the correct seat.

Naruto quickly found his own seat, and found Hinata would sit beside him. Gracing the girl which caused her to blush when she arrived, he couldn't help but remember their first meeting when he fought off some bullies who had it out for her.

Sadly before they could chat, her caretaker came in and took Hinata away. The next time they met was much later in the classroom. They chatted quite a bit that day, despite Hinata's stutter. The next day when he approached her she could only stutter out "Not allowed to talk to you" before shuffling off.

Figuring out it was her parents telling her to stay away from.. again. Naruto respected her decision, yet after a while they started to have short talks after class. He suspected Hinata had a crush on him, but he acted oblivious, reproaching her feelings with smiles and other kind gestures, without actually talking about it, afraid he would land the girl into trouble if he did reproach her feelings openly.

He was certain the girl knew about the fox he carried around. She once spent a full week constantly stalking him, before coming to what he suspected was the correct conclusion he wasn't the fox. Because she spend more time talking to him afterwards, despite the harshness of the punishments coming from her clan when she stayed away too long.

For that he was eternally grateful to her. Aside from her, only Kabuto was genuine with his friendship. The Hokage was a deceiving old man with his grandfather act. Iruka kept his distance despite his claim to be a friend. And the people at the ramen stand merely served him because they had standards, but otherwise did not interact closely with the 'demon boy'.

"You can start now!" Ibiki shouted, snapping Naruto out of his introspective. HHhASD

He flipped the form over on instinct, and was consequently flabbergasted by the first question.. and the second.. and the third. The only one that made sense was the 10th, which actually was an instruction it would be revealed 15 minutes before time.

'Dammit, why didn't I pay attention!' Naruto shouted to himself in his mind, panic setting in. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down. 'Panicking will only make it worse, find your center Naruto' he chanted to himself.

He sneakily glanced to his side, and saw the tell-tale bulge of her byakugan. Surprised at the normally shy girls blatant attempt at cheating, he quickly connected the dots, the questions weren't hard because he was being sabotaged, it was a spying assignment. This was confirmed when the first team was thrown out.

Suspecting he only had a limited amount of chances to cheat, and lacking severely in the cheating bloodline or jutsu department, Naruto knew he had to do it the traditional way, and calmly waited as Hinata worked her way down her questions.

He suspected she was trying to help him by slightly tilting the paper so he could read it more easily, and having a quite an open stance.

He soon as filled in his own paper, just in time too, as the scarred bear of a proctor spoke up again. "Listen up maggots, it's time for the 10th question."

"Before you take the question, you need to make a choice. You either take the question, and if you get it wrong…You will NOT be able to take the exams EVER again. Or… you can decide NOT to take the question and walk out of that door with your team, taking the exams next time."

A moment of stunned silence permeated the room, before the first participant shouted "You can't do that!"

"I CAN MAGGOT" Ibiki roared back, stunning the participant back his chair.

"People did the exams before!" a girl complained. A smug smirk made its way on Ibiki's scarred face. "Well those exams didn't have me" his smile turned bloodthirsty "So, ready to lose your chance for ever becoming chuunin?"

That broke the girl, and she fled out of room, her team soon called out to follow her.

Naruto's mind was whirling. 'Never take the exams again… can he really do that? Even then, there other ways to get promoted… a bluff?' He then felt like slapping himself again, chuunin need to make these kind decisions for their team themself, going into situations without having the full picture.

He saw Hinata fidget, her self-confidence not prepared for this kind of onslaught. He quickly scooted closer to her and softly whispered "It's a bluff Hinata-chan, and there other ways to get promoted" The girl blushed deep red and nodded weakly.

Naruto smiled to himself, happy he repaid her help. Than the smile dropped realizing his pink-haired teammate would probably forfeit herself, he quickly whirled around, seeing her slowly raise her hand while she looked at him.

He bristled at the implication 'Giving up because I am not ready? The….' And shot the girl the nastiest glare he could muster, taking her aback, causing her to drop her hand. Holding the glare for a moment to make sure she didn't get any ideas, he turned back towards Ibiki.

Keeping a close eye on both girls, more teams dropped out, and after a while, no more left.

"Last chance maggots" Ibiki boomed confidently "Anyone? No? Very well… you all….pass"

Once again, the room was silent, before another uproar came from the remaining participants.

Naruto flashed a big smile at Hinata, who once again blushed deeply, and nodded her thanks. Naruto turned back paying attention to Ibiki's explanation, and was happy he was thoughts were correct. Intrigued he saw the scarring on Ibiki's skull, once again punching him with the reality of being a shinobi.

Before Ibiki could finish his explanation however, a dark blur bashed through the windows, a large black banner with red letters saying "The sexy second examiner Mitarashi Anko!" The woman, Anko surveyed the room. "A bit more than I expected Ibiki… getting soft?"

Ibiki snorted "We got a talented bunch this year."

Anko laughed "Well that doesn't matter, I will cut these numbers in half!"

AN: The first semi-significant (For my story!) change has happened..dan dan dum.

VonKruez: I am also looking where this story leads me, For as far Vanex has written I got the major plot points in mind, with my own alterations, but from there I only have a vague impression how I will use the canon as guideline. Otherwise I just let the muse out and guide me.

BrainII: I wish I could, but that would be spoileriffic, You just have to wait and read. Har har har.

Godemporer: I will, for the empire!

Npcfan: Thank you, for Nar/Kus relationship I have some plotpoints, but where it ends is something even I am not sure of.

Kage: Well, here is more :D


	4. Chapter 4

After Anko's disturbing statement she would cut the numbers in half, she ordered the group to head towards training ground 44. As the different genin teams scrambled towards the training ground, Naruto approached Sakura.

"Sakura" He called out, causing the pink haired girl to turn around. Meeting a frigid glare from Naruto. "If you ever dare to make a decision for me…" he left the threat to the girl imagination, he quick paling showing she had one, before she suddenly recovered.

"Are you threating me Naruto-baka?" she hissed.

Naruto repressed the urge to slap her "Sakura, you might be on top of the class because of your bookwork, but remember who took down one of the demon brothers, remember who took down Haku while you were shivering like the little girl you are. Out of the entire class, you are the weakest."

While the two had their argument, Sasuke approached and watched on silently, not truly interested, but agreeing nonetheless. Sakura glanced towards him at the hope her knight would jump in and safe her.

Sasuke just grunted "Hn, we need to hurry up" Before setting off again. Sakura gulped, once again left alone with the teammate her mother called a monster. She was so used to berating the boy, she never thought he would bite back like he did now.

Frankly, it unnerved her to the core.

Naruto stopped glaring "He is right, let's go" he spoke coldly, his usual cheer far, far gone.

Sakura shivered 'Perhaps mother was right' and quickly followed the boys.

Upon arriving, they saw the scantily clad proctor eating dango, waiting for the last few stragglers to arrive. Behind her was a large forest of gigantic trees. A massive fence keeping the wild nature contained.

"Welcome to the 44th training ground, also known as the forest of death!" A well timed roar from the forest punctuated her statement. Anko shivered in delight from the fear emitted by frightened genin, her happiness dampened when she saw a certain blond genin. Sobering up, she remembered her job.

"Now.." she started, holding up two scrolls "… in this second exam your team will receive one of these scrolls, your mission is to retrieve the other one by any means necessary. There are twenty four teams, meaning at best, twelve will pass."

The genin starting seizing each other up warily, now understanding her statement she made in the classroom.

"You are forbidden to open these scrolls until you reach the tower in the center of the forest. You can only proceed from there if you have both scrolls. The time limit for this assignment is five days." She ignored the shouts of outrage "You are not allowed to leave the training ground no matter what. You will only be coming out after five days, alive, or in a body bag." She finished with a blood thirsty grin.

"In order to retrieve your teams scroll, you need to fill out this form, where you basically absolve Konoha from any responsibility what happens to you inside the forest."

"If you have any questions, well that's too bad, do try to spill that delicious red blood of yours" she finished, her blood thirsty grin growing ever wider.

The teams quickly filled in their forms and handed them over for their scroll, hiding it somewhere on their person while walking towards their assigned gate. Team seven soon stood in front of gate 27 with their "Heaven" scroll.

Through the loudspeakers attached to the gate, Anko's voice came in "The second part of the exam starts in 3…2…1….start!"

Upon start the gates flew open, and each team darted into the forest. Predictably, Sasuke pulled up ahead, implying he would take the leadership role. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha's blatant attempt to be superior again. 'No' he chastised himself 'Best to play along for now, this exam is too dangerous for us to fight each other.'

Making his decision, Naruto fell back to the rear since Sakura wanted to close to her precious 'Sasuke-kun'. Forming a textbook formation.

Meanwhile at gate 20, the team of Kusa genin also shot into the forest, as soon they were out of sight of the fence, two of the genin disappeared in puffs of smoke. The remaining genin also was clouded in smoke, and soon revealed a familiar redhead.

"Now where are you son" she whispered quietly to herself. Quite excited see her sons power for herself. She had read the reports, and could quite clearly see that her boys achievements where written off. 'And time to find out if Mikoto's boy is worth saving.'

Forming several handseals, in a puff of smoke, several man-sized snakes made their appearance. She held out a piece of orange cloth for them to taste 'One of the first things I am going to teach my son is how to dress properly' she mused to herself as her minions slithered away.

* * *

Naruto was happy his play along tactic worked, the Uchiha was thankfully smart enough not to lord his superiority in the forest, and led the team quietly. The pink haired groupie thankfully mimicked his silent lead.

Suddenly mid leap, Naruto's danger sense tingled, but before he could land was blown into a tree by a violent wind. Naruto groaned in pain as he attached himself to the tree before he could fall down.

"Show yourself, and face the Uchiha might!" Sasuke demanded. He was on a branch, and managed to keep himself on it with chakra. Naruto quickly scanned the environment for his other teammate, and saw her whimpering several trees to his left, cradling her arm.

He couldn't judge from this distance, but he highly doubted it was broken. If there was enough force in that blast to break bones, he would be knocked out by now.

"Era era, I missed" a familiar voice called out. Naruto let free an oath, facing a jonin was not on his plan today.

"Why are you here?" Naruto shouted. Sasuke head whipped around to face Naruto "You know her dobe?" "We need to run Sasuke, she is a jonin" Naruto responded, keeping his eyes on their foe.

The Uchiha's usual scowl deepened, not taking the advice kindly "Shut up dobe, don't tell me what to do!."

Naruto gritted his teeth, really, really hating the title 'dobe'. The woman raised an eyebrow 'Truly took after you father did you Sasuke?' "Era era, I was hoping to have a little chat with Naruto-kun here."

"Why would you be interested in that weakling, I am an Uchiha" Sasuke shouted. If it wouldn't take his view away from the enemy, Naruto would have face palmed.

"Don't provoke her, she is stronger than us! We need to retreat." Naruto shouted again, trying to make Sasuke see sense, it didn't work. The Uchiha once again took his eyes off his opponent "Shut up coward. No one can stand up to the might of the Uc…" before he could finish his bold declaration, a foot to the face blasted him into the tree next to Naruto.

"Era era, keep your eyes on your enemy Uchiha." The woman taunted. With Sasuke temporally distracting her, Naruto silently formed a shadow clone to carry away Sakura, but as the clone landed next to his teammate, a blindingly fast kunai from the woman destroyed his clone.

"Era, trying to run away Naruto-kun, are you really a coward?" Naruto withheld his temper at the insult, but his anger already awoken his inner beast, who took in the events silently. "Better a coward and alive then a hero and die uselessly.

The woman smiled in response, but before she could reply Sasuke vented his anger "Damn you whore, feel honored I will face you!"

Before he could do more, the woman blurred in front of him, and with another spinning kick, launched him into another tree. Naruto rapidly leapt away, forming multiple shadow clones, trying to surround the woman while yet again another clone tried to sneak away with Sakura. Who was now rigid with terror.

The woman flared her chakra, and a dark feeling settled across the genin. 'This woman is powerful' Sasuke thought with wide eyes. 'She will do to bear my offspring.'

His mind switching from 'revenge' to 'rebuild the clan' Sasuke blazed his sharingan. "You are strong woman, submit to the Uchiha clan and bear the next generation. You will be richly rewarded." He spoke with authority.

The rest gaped at the declaration "What?" Kushina said flatly. Looking at the Uchiha like he sprung a second head. Naruto was sure the woman's kicks broke the Uchiha's brain, but happily took the distraction to haul Sakura out of the fighting zone.

"You heard me, become my first wife, and together we will rebuild the elite Uchiha clan." Sasuke spoke like it was the most logical thing in the world.

'Miko-chan, your son is completely bonkers!' Kushina thought. Than her pranking mind set in. "Ooh? And who says you are strong enough for me? You weak little Uchiha's where destroyed by a single man." She taunted.

"I will kill Itachi!" Sasuke roared, leaping across trying to hit Kushina, who grabbed his wrist and flung him back into the tree he came from. "You are far too weak to kill Itachi as you are now." Kushina spoke mockingly. Sasuke glared with his Sharingan, still trying to stand back up. "But.." she started teasingly "…If you master this power I might consider your proposal." And with that she launched a snake with lighting speed to Sasuke. The snake biting into his shoulder close to his neck. A large seal forming.

'Using a snake is so much easier then yourself, never understood Orchi did it that way.' Kushina mused to herself as the seal finished forming. The target screaming in pay before falling unconscious. A curse attracted her attention to her target of the excursion 'At least it isn't as bad as Tayuya-chan' she thought with a frown.

Ignoring the odd interplay of emotions on the woman's face, Naruto quickly cooked up his escape plan, using his favorite tactic, mob it with shadow clones. Forming the familiar cross handsign, several dozen copies jumped into existence, quickly joining its brethren surrounding the impassive woman, before charging her.

"Era era, so many Naruto's" Kushina spoke huskily. A couple of clones blanched at the implication, but where soon dispelled with their brethren as the woman moved an intricate dance of death.

As soon the smoke cleared, Kushina saw she was alone. "Era, my boy is smart." A grin made its way on her face "But I want to see how strong he is" She quickly leapt forward, tracking the path the boy took in his escape.

Naruto tried to catch his breath. Both his teammates still in lala land. Sasuke from whatever the woman placed on him, Sakura went out like a light when the woman flared her chakra. He was grateful for that however, he doubted he could haul her around otherwise.

He managed to find some decent cover, and despite the encounter still held unto their scroll. With his companions hidden away, Naruto finally relaxed. To early, sadly.

"Era, there you are Naruto-kun" Naruto whirled to face the voice, and quickly ducked before her foot embedded itself in his face. Rolling away to keep his distance, he palmed a kunai and took a defensive stance.

"What do you want" he barked. Tired of being toyed with. The woman slightly tilted her head, observing him as a specimen in a lab. "Era, I just want to see how strong you are. To see if you are strong enough to learn more about your clan." She formed a shadow clone, who walked into the hiding spot Naruto stashed his teammates away.

"Era, don't worry about them. I just want to have your full attention." She said, catching his concerned glance. "I am surprised you care so much about them , they do not treat you kindly." Naruto growled "I don't care about them, but If the mighty Uchiha is hurt, I am the one in trouble."

The woman's playful demeanor evaporated. "Why do you stay with this village than?" she asked. "Because I have nowhere else to go" Naruto replied tiredly, slumping into himself despite the situation, his mind went over the option of running away more often than he liked, but with nowhere to go, he knew he wouldn't survive.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, you mother will come and get you soon." She spoke with surprising kindness. Naruto stood rigid "Where is she?" he demanded. "I will tell you, if you are strong enough" Kushina replied, inwardly hurting to string her son along. But revealing herself to early would hurt them both and her plan in the end.

Naruto face turned angry, and he spoke inwardly. "Kyuubi, give me your power" he demanded his inner beast, and he felt the beasts smirk "**I told you would beg me for power**" The beast responded smugly. Naruto would have rolled his eyes. "Yes, you are right, now could you give me two tails of your power, we both want to survive this. And work with me please" A growl communicated the beasts assent. A red chakra soon wrapped itself around Naruto.

Kushina frowned, not expecting her boy to reach for the beasts chakra straight away. Before dodging left to avoid get clawed apart as the kyuubified Naruto shot forward. A quick game of mouse and cat formed. Kushina's frowning all the way 'Did he lose control already?' she wondered, as she landed on another branch.

Naruto soon proofed her wrong, mid leap towards her, his hands shot down, yet the chakra claws remained while he formed the hand seal for the shadow clone technique. Kushina's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise as suddenly two clones poofed into existence, grabbed unto her, while the chakra arms doubled in size, rearing above Naruto as they prepared to shred her.

Kushina smiled 'Looks like he is in control and had a plan.' As the claws descended, she suddenly twisted and turned, tossing the clones away in a burst in strength before using the replacement jutsu with an unfortunate log, which was shredded and burned by Kyuubi's power.

Kushina's smile widened as she consequently escaped multiple attempts on her life by Naruto's clever use of combinations with the limited jutsu he knew.

'Somebody is approaching despite the barrier' Kushina thought, as she suddenly sensed the approach of a person despite the seals she placed to have some privacy while she chased the boy down. Quickly dashing forward, avoiding impalement by the chakra tail. She whipped out a seal from her poach and slammed it unto Naruto's forehead.

Immediately the kyuubi's chakra receded. And Naruto slumped into dreamland, quickly caught by Kushina before he could fall to the forest floor.

She smiled softly at her child "Such a control over the fox's chakra at your age Naru-chan." She praised softly, placing the boy safely on a branch. She unsealed a scroll and stuffed it down his jacket, hiding it from view.

She also used that opportunity to do a quick health check on her son, and took a blood sample. 'A bit small for his age.. either his Uzumaki blood is strong.. or he wasn't well fed as a baby.' She scowled, certain it was the second reason. 'Nothing I cannot fix, he'll be as tall as his sperm donor'.

Standing back up to face the intruder, she saw Anko land. "Orochimaru!" the woman shouted outraged. Kushina quickly switched her persona "Kukuku, Anko-chan, is that how you greet your former master?" She mimicked Orochimaru.

"Why are you, what do you want?!" Anko demanded hotly while she coiled herself to attack. "Kukuku, I just came here to give the Uchiha a gift. Do not cancel the exams, or face my wrath." Kushina spoke, before allowed the mud clone to crumble, she herself already well hidden in the trees.

Anko cursed up a storm, a soon entered the hideout. There Anko saw Sasuke still knocked out, sweating badly. At the spot she expected, she saw a seal. 'It looks like the cursed seal, yet very different… A new version?' Not able to do much more, she quickly inspected the girl beside the Uchiha, aside from some nasty bruises, she didn't see anything wrong.

With a sharp slap, she rudely awakened Sakura. "What happened." She demanded from the scared and confused girl. "I…I don't know" she stuttered out "just that the scary woman attacked us.. she was so strong…" Anko blinked, and suddenly realized that Orochimaru was indeed a woman. 'How the hell did that happen?' Filing it away for later, she refocused on the girl. "Stay here and watch your teammate, I will bring your other teammate soon." And with that she exited the hideout.

Jumping over to the still knocked out Naruto, her distaste for him took over once again. Taking out a kunai, she briefly considered ending his life right here. But that would lead to questions from his pink haired teammate, and if she killed her, investigation would happen, and she would be interrogated.

Sighing, she ripped off the seal on his forehead. Groaning awake, he stood face to face with the proctor. "What happened" she demanded. Naruto blinked, trying to focus, behind the woman, hidden in the trees he saw a familiar redhead mouthing 'lie'.

"That woman attacked us out of nowhere… did something with Sasuke that formed so black thing on his shoulder." He blinked, realizing he did not sense his connection with Kyuubi. "I went berserk on her with the foxes power.. did I kill her?" he asked innocently, his mind franticly trying to make up a convincing lie.

"You didn't, Orochimaru knocked you out with this seal." Naruto blinked, his curiosity blazing "Seals can do that?" Anko merely shrugged. "Your team is hidden away there" she pointed roughly towards the hideout. "Despite his interference, the exam is still ongoing."

Naruto groaned in dismay. And Anko soon disappeared into the forest. As he stood up, he felt two items hidden in his clothing. One labeled "Earth"

The other labeled "Uzumaki"

AN: Wohoo, my first fight scene I dared to post (As one sided it is). I hope I hinted enough Naruto had some control of Kyuubi, so him going two tails won't be too much "WTF?!" If it is, let me know please. I planted, and I am going to plant more of these subtle hints.

Kage88: Are you camping my story? I had barely posted it when you already reviewed it. Anyways, as you asked, here is more.

Crimsontaicho: Wait and read, I am not going to spoil how Naruto and Kushina will know and interact with each other.

Quest reviewer: They neither hate nor love him. I can't go further without going spoillerific.

Von Kreuz: Indeed, I have..plans.. for Hinata

Tormound: Mindreader! But in what way.. you'll just have to find out.

naruto saiyan00: Thanks

Samm91: Well, I hope she is badass enough in this chapter. It seems more people dislike the distancing of Ichirakus less than pleasant. But I want to make a Naruto who would leave if he could. And the Ichirakus play a vital role in Naruto's early years to keep him in the village.

(Who knew teasing your readers could be this much fun! :D)


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto quickly unfurled the Uzumaki scroll. And saw several seals in it, each labeled. His quick scan revealed "History" "Bloodline" "Seal Basics". There were also some instructions which revealed how to unseal the contents and how to reseal them.

Quickly closing the scroll, and stuffing it away in his jumpsuit, he made his way towards the hideout. Where he saw his pink teammate fussing over the still sweating and tossing Sasuke. 'I am touched that she cares so much about me, and pays so much attention to her environment' Naruto thought. "How is he?"

Nearly jumping in surprise, Sakura turned towards Naruto "I don't know" she replied. Pinching his nose about the enormous amount of mistakes she just made, like failing to verify he really is Naruto, standard procedure for treating those who are harmed by unknown means. 'And she is supposed to be the best female student' Naruto mused wryly.

"Do you think he can be moved?" he asked instead, stuffing his irritation away. She huffed "And why would you want to do that Naruto-baka" she bit out automatically. In response, a scroll knocked hard against her head. "Why did you do that baka!" she shrieked.

"Shut up" Naruto growled. "Use that enormous forehead of yours and realize it's an earth scroll. Than try to make the connection we already have an heaven one. From there, you ought to be able to connect why I am asking if he can be moved. And you really should follow the noise protocol for when you are in enemy territory, or did you forget those rules already miss top scores."

The girl rose to her feet and rushed him, intent to clobber him with her fists. As she swung, he caught her fist. Sakura swung with her other arm, which Naruto also caught. Using his strength, he pinned the girl against the wall.

"Listen up Sakura, you are the weakest out of us, I saved you when Orochimaru knocked you and Sasuke out. I am trying to make sure we survive this exam. Now go secure your Sasuke-kun for transport while I figure out where that damn tower is. UNDERSTOOD?!"

The girl nodded frightened, realizing Naruto no longer was willing to play punching bag. Naruto released her, and marched out. Still simmering with anger, he quickly climbed to the top of one of the taller trees. Scanning the environment, he gave his thanks to Lady Luck for allowing him to spot the top of a building. Meaning during his wild flight from that Oto woman led him near the tower.

As he reentered the hideout, he Sakura had properly bound Sasuke for transport, and without comment made two clones to haul him. "The tower is two or three hours traveling from here. Let's go before its completely dark."

The girl nodded meekly, and followed him.

Their transit towards the tower was uneventful, Naruto skillfully scouted ahead, and dodged an ambush from an ambitious team. This forced them to take a long route around them however, and the night had properly set in now.

Despite her forced nap earlier the day, Naruto saw Sakura was exhausted. 'And that tower is further away than I thought… or I spend too much time making sure I am on the correct route.' With Sasuke still knocked out. Naruto admitted he was forced to make camp.

Finding a suitable hallow to hide in, he send the girl off to sleep, ignoring he complaints about his lack of sense of direction and timing. 'You'd think saving her life would make her at least be grateful.' Naruto thought as he and his clones finished up setting some basic traps.

By the time his first shift was over, he saw the girl was still out cold, the Uchiha was stopped sweating and mumbling, and now lay silent 'But at least the bastard is still alive.'

Near the end of the second shift, morning already approaching, he shook Sakura awake. The girl seemed on the verge of complaining, but a glare stopped her in her tracks. After a few silent words and where the traps where, Naruto finally lay down to sleep.

Only to be rudely awakened by a kick into his side. Acting on instinct, he rolled side wards before a second blow could land. Hastily scrambling to his feet, he was greeted by a maniacal Sasuke, who was laughing, clad in wisps of black chakra.

"Your finally awake dobe, fight me!" Sasuke cackled, charging forwards Naruto. Naruto would have stared wide-eyed at the Uchiha if he wasn't trying to beat him into a pulp. Instead he dived out of the way, avoiding the charge.

"Stand still and taste my new powers weakling! Fight me!" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto was still trying to make sense what happened, and wondered where Sakura was. After leaping clear of the bullheaded Uchiha again, he saw the girl just stood there staring. "Sakura" he bellowed, getting her attention. "What the hell is going on!"

The girl babbled something incoherently causing Naruto to curse under his breath as he avoided another bull charge from Sasuke.

"Stand still you clan less loser!" Sasuke bellowed, starting to form handseals.

Knowing the Uchiha would do something involving fire, but unsure how the black chakra would interfere or boost the jutsu, Naruto quickly formed several shadow clones. Timing to the moment the Uchiha closed his eyes to belch up the fire, he jumped up, boosted further by the clones, launching him to the underside of a branch further up, he quickly clambers around it, making himself invisible for the Uchiha.

Below him, he heard the Uchiha insane cackling, laughing his 'victory' over Naruto. Naruto carefully edged towards the edge of the branch, peeking down below.

"Sakura" The insane Uchiha shouted, the dark wisps of chakra moving more irritably by the second. "Where is the heaven scroll." He demanded, shocking the girl out of her stupor. "Na..Naruto… had both of them"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow "Both of them?... Doesn't matter, with this new power I will kill the competition easily." With that, he stomped off, not looking back to his female teammate.

Before he got very far however, he once again collapsed like a puppet without strings. Sensing the opportunity, Naruto leapt from his hiding place, landing near Sasuke, and started binding him up as a prisoner without further ado.

"Naruto, your alive!" Sakura shrieked as she recovered from Naruto's sudden appearance. "Sakura, pack the stuff we left in the hallow that isn't burnt to crisp."

"But Sasuke-kun.." She started to protest. "Move Sakura!" Naruto snapped "That idiot pumped his chakra into the air like there was no tomorrow, and to help the competition find us, he lit a nice house sized fireball!"

With the girl out of sight, Naruto stopped his work on the Uchiha for a moment to check if he had all the scrolls. 'If that bastard burnt the Uzumaki scroll, I am killing him' Naruto thought darkly. Naruto however did not have to commit murder, all scrolls still on his person. Their camping gear was not so lucky however, all burned to crisp by the Uchiha overpowered fireball.

"Alright, let's go" he ordered, Sakura weakly nodded still overwhelmed by everything that happened.

* * *

Naruto landed in front of the large doorway at the bottom of the tower. 'At least the last leg of the journey went without interruption' Naruto thought as the team entered the tower. They were, to their disappointment, greeted by an large empty room. At the far end of it, there was a riddle.

Naruto shot an hopeful glance towards Sakura, hoping that her brain would be useful to the team for a change. "Sakura, you have an idea what we must do now?" he asked. And in return he got a headshake from the girl.

He cast his mind back to when the instructions happened, wondering if he missed something important. 'We have the Heaven and Earth scrolls… what does it mean with if you lack… lack what?' Then he felt like slapping himself.

"_You are forbidden to open these scrolls until you reach the tower in the center of the forest. You can only proceed from there if you have both scrolls." _Anko's voice echoed through his memories.

He took both scrolls out of his jumpsuit. "Open it on my signal… on second thought, make sure you throw yours over mine." Sakura looked at him like he was crazy "What do you mean Naruto-b.." she caught herself as Naruto shot her a glare.

"Just do it" he said coldly.

Following his command, she threw her scroll over the one he laid out on the ground. And in a poof, Iruka stood before them.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted, putting on his happy mask without thinking, causing Sakura to look at him strangely.

"Naruto, It is good to see you are alright. Anko already informed us what happened. The Hokage will see you two soon." Naruto nodded, Sakura looked unsure but also nodded.

After placing Sasuke in the medics care, both genin where soon presented to the Hokage and a group of jonin, which included their fellow class members sensei and the proctors of the exam.

Naruto was both glad and unhappy Sakura was interviewed first, now that he could properly sit down and center himself, he realized he failed to keep a check on his temper during the exam so far, and started to lash out. If she was bitter, she could spin a tale that would land in trouble.

It didn't help he also had to quickly cook up a story on how he faced Orochimaru, or whoever that woman was. If memory served correctly, Orochimaru was a guy, so unless he was into cross-dressing that woman couldn't be Orochimaru.

Sakura came out way to quickly for his tastes, but he understood, she was knocked out of the fight very quickly, and see entered the room, faced with plenty of faces holding barely concealed disdain.

"Hey jiji" Naruto spoke cheerfully.

"Hello Naruto-kun" Hiruzen responded warmly "Can you tell us what happened in the forest?"

"Sure jiji, after we entered the forest, Sasuke took the lead, after a while we were attacked by this weird woman with a wind attack that knocked me into the tree. She wanted to…" Naruto spun his tale, trying to stick as close as the truth as he could. But he was interrupted by his 'sensei'.

"Sakura said you seemed to recognize her." He spoke coldly. Naruto nodded vigorously "Yea, I met her the day before the exams started. " He turned his face into a frown "She convinced me to take the exams, I thought the team wasn't ready." His face turned worried "She also said nearly the entire world knows about.. well you know" he finished, patting the seal on his stomach.

Naruto noted Hiruzen looked genuinely surprised at the last part. Effectively making the assembled group forget the rest. Only Ibiki thought something was off.

"That is worrisome news Naruto-kun, I shall find out if that is true." Hiruzen spoke kindly. "Now what did she want?"

"She wanted to talk to me, at least she said that. Sasuke kept shouting and attacking. But she knocked him around without a worry dattabayo. She then used a snake to bite him in the shoulder that gave him this weird mark with that dark chakra."

Playing the suitable amount of emotions on his face "I threw a load of shadow clones at her and ran off with Sakura and Sasuke… I thought I had escaped. But she was suddenly on top of me, I barely avoided getting my head knocked off!" Naruto put his best fearful look on his face. "She also made a clone that went into the hideout I found. I was so afraid she would kill the team jiji, so I pulled on Kyuubi's chakra and went berserk on her." He looked down on the ground shamefully for using Kyuubi's chakra. 'I so should be getting award for this' Naruto thought in the back of his mind.

"You did the best you could Naruto-kun" Hiruzen spoke encouragingly. "What happened next?"

"I don't know jiji" Naruto responded, still looking at the ground "I woke up with that proctor lady interrogating me. She said I was knocked out by a seal. Afterwards I took Sakura and Sasuke towards the tower after I found out she left an earth scroll in my jumpsuit for some reason. We had to avoid a team so we couldn't make it before night set in."

He looked up again, feigning worry. "After I spend most of the night standing guard, I woke up Sakura and let her take over. The next thing I know Sasuke is trying to kill me!" Naruto displayed his finest horror face. And in the edge of his vision he saw Kakashi's disappointment. 'Bastard'

"After he thought he killed, he fell over again, and I dragged him here…"

"hmm, I see Naruto-kun.. now I need you to remember the best you can, did that woman ever introduce herself as Orochimaru?"

Naruto shook his head "She called herself Kensaku Oto when I met her."

Hiruzen sighed 'Another dead end, still my old student was interested in learning every jutsu, but the curse mark Anko saw did not look like anything she had. What is going on here? Why would this woman, or Orochimaru want the exams to continue? What is their game here?'

Dismissing the boy, he looked at the assembled group. "What do you think?"

Anko spoke up first. "Take the Uchiha out of the exams and keep him inside Konoha until we know what this new curse seal can do." Kakashi bristled. "And ruin his chances to become chuunin?" Anko shrugged "He can be promoted later if he is a good as you claim to be, although the kids stories say otherwise" she jabbed.

Before a fight could break out in the tower office "Taking him out of the exams could incur whatever wrath Orochimaru, or that woman has planned, furthermore, the political fallout would be dangerous for his other teammate. And it would be bad for Konoha overall"

Only Guy looked unhappy, most of the other jonin where rather uncaring if something happened to the Kyuubi boy. Hiruzen raised his hand to silence Anko "I know it's dangerous Anko, but perhaps we can use the Uchiha to find out what Orochimaru wants, if it's really the sharingan, or perhaps a foil for his true objective."

Both Kakashi and Anko looked unhappy at that for different reasons. But nodded their assent.

"Now, I need some ideas he we can prepare for whatever Orochimaru can do.." Hiruzen spoke, and the group started brainstorming.

* * *

Naruto quickly made his way down the tower, intent to find a silent room where he could meditate, he needed to sort out his thoughts, he was happy Sakura didn't use the opportunity to complain about his actions. He really wanted to read the Uzumaki scroll, and he still needed to chat with his tenant about the Gaara guy.

Speaking about the devil, he saw a mop of red hair came around the corner, and soon stood face to face with the stoic boy. 'Why does have the word love on his forehead?' Naruto asked to himself. "Can I help you?" he asked cheerfully.

Gaara just looked at him silently for a moment, before speaking "Our fight will be interesting, make me feel alive when we do" he turned around, leaving a confused and worried Naruto behind. Shaking off the disturbing experience, Naruto soon find an empty room. And started meditating. Deciding to contact the fox first, before the beast got grumpy for not being the top thing on his list, he drew ever so slightly on its chakra.

**Do not get hit by that seal again **the beast roared in his mind, clearly displeased by what happened.

**Its effects where most unpleasant for me, do not let it happen again, understood.**

Naruto could only nod dumbly, taking off balance by the sudden demand that did not involve setting it free or burning Konoha.

**As for the redheaded boy, I am certain he contains my youngest brother Ichibi. My brother is probably corrupting the boy. He was always a crazy one.**

Naruto felt like looking outside to see if the pigs where flying, because the Kyuubi spoke nearly.. fondly at the last part.

A deep snort reminded him the beast could read his mind.

**Start reading those scrolls, I am interested in what the woman wants you to read and learn. Don't worry, I will keep the link open.**

Naruto showed his assent by fishing out the Uzumaki scroll. 'Learn about my clans history first.. or my clans bloodline.' Naruto asked himself.

**Power is far more important than history**

Naruto chuckled at the beasts predictable response. And unsealed the bloodline scroll. He saw several family lines, with the main line encircled in red. 'Does that mean I am a main branch member?'

"The main branch solid chakra release nearly always expresses itself in the form of chains. The affinity and latent bloodlines the user has initially form the shape of the chains. Users with an Earth affinity will have rocky extrusions on their chains, Users with a wind affinity will have chains with sharp edges, Water affinity will result in in teardrop shaped extrusions with the chain being cold. While an fire affinity will result in a spikey chain which will be slightly warm."

'And I find out about my affinity as a bonus, sweet' Naruto thought to himself as a big smile made a way to his face.

"The main branch bloodline is active from birth, the general bloodline trademarks as long life and increased healing capacities will show. Drawing out the main branch chains for use is a progress of different training steps…"

AN: La gasp, I went over 10k words with chapter 4 and I didn't notice. Well, better celebrate late than never. Yes, Gaara is still mentally unhinged, now in a different way.

Tormound: I am updating twice a day. Admittedly its only around 5k words, but isn't that soon enough?! :P

Von Kreuz: Phew.

ManxomeFoe: No promises, but if it does happen, it's only a minor point (As I suspect I am a horrible romance writer)

Kage888 and redwolf23456 : Thanks!

Adam02: Thank you, you have good eye for details, however, in canon Orochimaru used killing intent to make Sasuke wet his pants, Kushina used the power of her chakra to shock them. Only Sakura being too weak to stay awake with that. I'd love to comment on the second part, but I fail to do so without going spoillerific. But don't worry, I have plan. Muhahahahaha

The Light to all Fears: It is one of Kushina's verbal ticks. An habit taken from Orochimaru who has his mocking laughter, the 'era' is something I pulled out of nowhere. She uses it when she is playful or mockingly, or at least I am trying to write it that way.

Hiatagi-Satori: None of the romantic stuff is set in stone.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto spend the rest of the days mostly alone, both working on his bloodline, and reading his clan long and glorious history. How it thrived and grew during the bloody clan war era. How it absorbed different bloodline using clans into itself, effectively forming the first hidden village a decade before the Senju and Uchiha formed Konoha. How the Uzumaki clan aided them in this progress due their longtime partnership with the Senju clan.

And of course the fall of Uzushiogakure during the second shinobi war.

**Your being led on, both by that woman and grey haired boy.**

It was an hour before the second exam would end. A lot of teams made it through, including all the rookies, the team with Lee in it, the sound team and to Naruto happiness, Kabuto's team. Naruto also heard several senior ninja talk about preliminaries, so he suspected he was going to fight again soon.

Naruto shook out of his meditation 'What do you mean with that?' he asked confused.

A loud snort reverberated through his mind.

**First grey haired boy tells you to keep an open mind. The next day a woman arrives who knows a lot about things hidden from you. And conveniently, the next day grey haired boy confirms it. Then, the woman appears again, feeding you more information. I wonder how the grey haired boy will back up what you know.**

Naruto could only cringe at the cold hard logic Kyuubi offered, and was once again reminded that behind the usual anger, was a cunning worthy of the legends that described it.

**Flattery wont impress me.**

Muttering about mindreading foxes. Naruto refocused on his meditation. His thoughts where however plagued by Kyuubi's logic. 'Is Kabuto really my friend?' Naruto wondered.

**Perhaps he is. **Kyuubi spoke almost kindly **He certainly does not work for the monkey summoner.**

'So these people, most likely from Oto… are trying to recruit me?'

Silence greeted him, the beast having had enough conversation for the day. Naruto realized mediating would not work with the subject on his mind, and hoped he could control his temper. Soon senior ninja started to gather the participants, guiding them to a large hexagonal room, one side of which held a massive statue depicting the 'ram' handseal.

As the teams lined up, the Hokage, the proctors and the teams jonin sensei showed up, the Oto sensei missing.

"Well done on surviving the second exam" Anko 'praised'. "The Hokage will now speak to you, so pay attention!"

"Thank you Anko, now before we start the next part. I will tell you about the true reason of these exams."

'True reason?' the collective hopefuls asked themselves.

"Why would allies, those neutral to us, or even or enemies participate in these exams?" The Hokage asked the group, and subsequently spun a tale about replacement of war, friendship and show of strength. "….This exam allows the villages to show their strength of their ninja, it only has meaning because you risk your life in it."

The girl from Lee's team shouted "But if we die, how does that promote friendship?"

"Fighting, and losing lives, feeling each other strengths and respect. That is the friendship of the shinobi world." The Hokage answered.

Naruto frowned at the statement 'Deaths and losses will only lead to bitter feelings. Exhibit A: The resident last Uchiha.' He thought to himself as he watched Sasuke, who stood stiffly.

"Remember, your villages prestige is on the line. Now, Hayate here will explain the next part." The Hokage spoke in a grandfatherly tone.

The gestured man coughed "Hello Everyone, I am Gekko Hayate. Because either the previous two parts where to easy, or you are a talented bunch, we have to many participants for the third part of the exam. To correct this, there will be one on one preliminaries. For those who do not feel ready, or are to wounded, you can leave now. This will not affect your teammates."

Kabuto glanced at his sensei. A black haired, pale woman with slitted blue eyes. Who gave a slight nod. He raised his hand "I am not rested well enough for fighting"

Hayate glanced down to his paperwork "Yakushi Kabuto correct?" "Hai" "Very well, you can leave now"

Kabuto walked towards Naruto "Good luck Naruto-kun" Naruto just looked at him puzzled "Why are you quitting, you look fine" Kabuto smiled warmly "That's because I am a good medic, but I am in no state for fighting."Naruto frowned "You don't know until you try" he tried to encourage. Kabuto chuckled in response "I am glad you have faith in me Naruto-kun, but perhaps next time." And with that, he left the room. 'My work is done Kushina-sama, I see you at the invasion Naruto-kun'.

While the two were talking, the proctors discussed the only leaver. "This isn't the first time he quit before the last part of the exam" Hayate noted, as he saw Kabuto's information. "This is the 7th time he quit."

"Seven times? What kind of record does he have?" Anko asked. "He didn't do much missions, but he works at the hospital. Still strange he isn't pushing himself further." Hayate responded with a shrug. "I should talk to that young man." Ibiki note, and the other proctors shivered at the word 'talk'.

"Anyone else" Hayate asked. Sasuke suddenly twitched in pain, his seal flaring. Earning him a glare from Anko. Sakura stepped towards him, trying to convince him to quit. Earning her a death glare from the Uchiha. "Like Naruto said, don't make decisions for me" he growled at her.

Hayate watched byplay. Seeing that the Uchiha would be staying, he decided to proceed. "Since no-one else is quitting, we will proceed. Everybody please head up to the balconies. The screen…" he pointed to a large black screen, with the word 'versus' boldly in the middle "…will tell you who your opponent is."

He waited until all the people present made their way up. "The rules are simple. You will on the position I indicate. And you are not allowed to use any techniques, grab any weapon until I give the signal. The fight will continue until one participant is knocked out, forfeits or killed. Or when I interfere to stop a what I judge is a killing blow. Are there any questions?"

Silence greeted him, and Hayate signaled for the board to select the first opponents.

"Uchiha Sasuke from Konoha versus Akadō Yoroi from Konoha"

Before Sasuke could make his way down, Kakashi grabbed his shoulder and spoke in soft tones "If you lose control of the cursed seal, I will interfere." Sasuke grunted as a reply. Kakashi eye-smiled "Now go and show them the might of the Uchiha clan."

"Are you sure you want to let him fight" Anko asked as Sasuke took his position, his opponent already waiting. "Mah mah" Kakashi spoke "He'll be fine".

"Are you ready?" Hayate asked, getting two nods in return. "Begin!" he shouted, leaping backwards to get clear. Sasuke tried a straight punch, which Yoroi caught and held on too. Trying to break free, Sasuke lashed out with his other hand which Yoroi also caught. Sasuke started to struggle to break free, feeling his chakra leave him.

"You are draining my chakra" he shouted. Yoroi merely grinned at him wickedly. 'I will not lose, I WILL NOT LOSE' Sasuke chanted in his mind, suddenly pulling hard, while aiming a low kick at Yoroi's shin. Unbalancing him, allowing Sasuke to break free.

Sasuke panted as Yoroi slowly circled him, looking for an opening to drain the Uchiha dry. Yoroi lurched forward, Sasuke tried to dodge, but the masked man was too fast. In his panic, he ignored Kakashi's warning and dug into the power of the seal on his neck. The chakra was foul enough to make Yoroi recoil, giving Sasuke an opening for a furious taijutsu assault, slightly empowered by the small

"Kakashi, he is using the seal" Anko hissed. "Mah mah, he has it under control" Kakashi responded unconcerned. Anko hissed, but knew she would be in trouble if she interfered.

An grapple attempt from Yoroi forced the fighters away from each other. Both now panting heavily. "It is nearly over." Asume commented to his team.

Sasuke suddenly darted forward, dodging under the grabbing hand of Yoroi, kicking the man upwards, he jumped after him, and with a heel drop, while shouting "Lion Combo!" Sasuke kicked Yoroi into the unforgiving earth. Knocking him out.

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke by knockout!" The public

'Damn, Kabuto's teammate nearly had him. Looked like it was Lee's move he used, must have used that copy eye of his.' Naruto thought. Kakashi appeared next to Sasuke "Well done Sasuke, now let's take care of the seal." Teleporting away with Sasuke in tow.

'So interested in the rest of the team hypocrite, who abandon their teammates are lower than scum was it?' Naruto mused. Meanwhile the board spun again

"Abumi Zaku from Oto versus Aburame Shino from Konoha! Please make your way down" Hayate declared.

Zaku leapt down, while Shino calmly walked his way down. Zaku used this opportunity to quickly stretch, while secretly double checking his modifications. 'Left arm good, right arm good. This guy is going down' Zaku thought with a smirk. Shino stood impassively.

"Are you both ready? Hayate asked "Then go!"

Zaku rushed forward, intend to defeat Shino with Taijutsu. Shino released his insects, who slowly started to surround the fighting pair. "You should surrender. You know why? Because you are surrounded by my insects." "You wish I were! Spinning decapitation!" Zaku exclaimed, quickly spinning around while releasing a high power burst of air from his palms. Shino ducked under the cutting winds, but noted his insect allies where not so lucky.

Digging into his insect army reserves, he ordered his insects to clog up the tubing of Zaku's modification. Shino shot forward to prevent another shot taken at him, and buying time for his insects to complete their task.

After a short hand to hand fight, Shino leapt backwards. His insects informing him their task is complete. "I have won" he declared confidently as a cloud of insects rose around him, swarming its way to Zaku. Zaku aimed his arms at Shino and the swarm, before raising an eyebrow, a twinge of chakra informing him what is wrong. "I see, clogged my tubing ne?" lowering his arms, he quickly made several handseals most Konoha-nin recognized, ending in the Tora seal.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He exclaimed, belching a wall of fire. Shino leapt backwards, avoiding getting burned, but his insects where not quick enough.

Zaku noticed he was getting low on chakra, but he bluffed his strength. "Anything else you can do?" He said cockily.

Shino raised an eyebrow, before raising his arm "Proctor, I forfeit, you know why? My colony is nearly wiped out"

"Winner by forfeit, Abumi Zaku!"

Zaku bowed to the crowd, before making his way up to his teammates who congratulated him on his win. Shino received praise from his own sensei for a well fought fight.

While Shino and Zaku had their match. Kakashi took Sasuke to an isolated room, prepared for sealing the boys mark on his neck. He was nearly finished when he heard a soft "kukuku" behind him. Spinning around quickly, he stood face to face with Kushina, now disguised, her hair still black, her complexion ghostly white and her eyes turned yellow.

"Evil sealing method Kakashi?" She spoke, imitating Orochimaru's tone. "Is that all you can do?" She mocked. Her inner seal master offended that Kakashi thought he could hold down the seal she made with such an inferior thing.

Kakashi responded by charging up a raikiri, which cackled dangerously in the silent room. "The boy will be mine, and remember, don't even think about cancelling the exams. Kukukuku."

Her piece of misdirection complete, she quickly made her exit, before changing back to her jonin sensei of Kabuto's team disguise. Returning just in time to see Zaku's victory.

'Well done Zaku, well done.' She thought to herself, pleased how far the genin had grown.

"Misumi Tsurugi from Konoha versus Kankuro from Suna!"

Tsurugi strolled down towards his starting place like he owned the arena. While Kankuro walked rather stiffly.

"Ready?" Hayate inquired "Then fight!"

The moment Hayate shouted fight, Tsurugi shot forward, grappling Kankuro, causing him to drop the white bandaged package he was trying to unwrap. To the surprise of everybody present, instead of just using his arms and legs to bind Kankuro, Tsurugi body twisted and wrapped himself around Kankuro, and he slowly started to rip Kankuro's arms out of his sockets.

"Give up, you cannot win." Tsurugi spoke cockily into Kankuro's ear. "You would be right, if that was the real me" suddenly came from the package. Tsurugi's eyes shot open in confusion, and suddenly stood face to senbon launcher as the puppets mouth opened wide, which promptly peppered his head with needles. Screaming, he flopped away. Pulling out the needles from his forehead and nose.

"Damn you" he cursed, as he shakily rose. The real Kankura revealed itself from the package, and the fake one started to rise, revealing the wooden puppet underneath.

"Heh, I have already won" Kankura spoke confidently.

"What do you.. mean..with" Tsurugi slurred. Before he slumped forward.

"Winner by knockout, Kankuro! Now get a medic." He faced towards Kankuro "Is the poison lethal?"

Kankuro shook his head "He should wake up in a couple of hours." Hayate nodded his thanks. And signaled for the board to spin.

"Haruno Sakura from Konoha versus Yamanaka Ino from Konoha"

Both girls made their way down. "Are you girls ready?" Hayate asked, getting two nods in return. "Then.. start!"

'That's a rather sorry excuse for a taijutsu fight' Naruto thought as he watched 'Are they holding back?' His thoughts where soon confirmed by a bold declaration from Sakura, telling Ino not to hold back. The fight heated up, and Ino used her hair to trap Sakura for his mind technique to work, only to be rejected by Sakura's mind.

The girls resumed their hand to hand fight, ending with a double knock out.

Hayate shook his head "Since both participants are knocked out, it's a draw, and neither will continue." The medics soon came in and carted both off.

The board spun again "Tenten of Konoha versus Temari of Suna"

Both girls made it to their place "Ready to show them how real kunoichi fight?" Tenten asked her opponent, who just snorted dismissively. Tenten frowned, feeling insulted.

Hayate decided to start the match before the pre-match banter set it off. "Ready? Then fight!" He then had to jump backwards to avoid getting impaled by the multitude of sharp objects Tenten started to throw.

Temari slightly opened her fan in response, and swung it once, sending the pointy objects away from her. "Is that all?" she asked mockingly. Tenten scowled, and opened a scroll, launching another wave towards Temari, who simply swung her fan again, deflecting the attack.

"That was your second chance" Temari mocked. Tenten face started to display her anger, and she leapt into the air, unrolling two large scrolls "Twin rising dragons!" with multiple poofs of smoke, weapons appeared for Tenten to throw. She launched the entire lexicon of weaponry towards Temari, who was forced to dodge and use quick wind attack with her fan to avoid impalement.

The moment Tenten lost momentum, Temari fully opened her fan, and launched a cutting wind tornado, who caught Tenten midair, lifting her further, cutting her body and the two unfurled scrolls.

Once the attack ended, Tenten was stunned, and slowly started to drop. Temari stood below her landing zone, place her fan so that Tenten would break her back when she fell into it. Before that could happen, a green blur shot forward and caught the falling girl.

"Most unyouthful" Lee boomed.

"Winner by interference, Temari!" Hayate shouted.

Lee glared at the girl who tried to harm his teammate beyond the need of victory. But before he could launch himself at her, a firm hand landed on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw the stern face of his sensei, Maito Guy, shaking his head.

"A most youthful save Lee, but do not avenge your teammate. That would lead to an unyouthful disqualification"

"Guy-sensei" Lee responded, sparkles in his eyes from his teachers wisdom.

"Now Lee, hand Tenten to those youthful medics…" the said medics blanched "…and wait for your match for an explosion of youth!"

"Hai Guy-sensei!"

The more veteran Konoha ninja's sighed in relief that there was no 'youthful hugs' involved. Not ready for the genjutsu that comes with it.

The board meanwhile spun on uncaringly.

"Nara Shikamaru from Konoha versus Tsuchi Kin"

AN: Thank god for the Naruto-wiki. Wouldn't know otherwise the way the canon fights happened. Couldn't bring myself to describe the Ino/Sakura fight, sue me. (Please don't). For some reason I wrote Hayata as Gekko.. silly me.. shame I did it for this and the next chapter.

Also, Why is writing Lee and Guy so hard?! QQ

Adam02: Actually, The Uzumaki being Kenjutsu masters is a fanon thing. The only known Uzumaki sword wielder being the unnamed clan leader. In the few shots we have, none of the other unnamed members in the background are equipped with swords. I am not planning to make any OC legendary weapons atm.

BrainII: Era era, you really want the poor Uchiha and the Cyclops to die eh? Sadly for you, I will not reveal any spoilers.

kage88: You ask, and I shall deliver, on my own schedule.

Wyrtha: 0_o! I totally forgot the lightning element, well spotted, sadly I have no good idea to describe it, perhaps I will fix it later. Thank you for pointing it , Kushina has an fire-element. As you will later read, (Minor spoiler alert) the users can decide if they either keep the 'impurities' or not. (Alert end). Chapter 7 contains the Kiba/Naruto fight, so you have to wait until tomorrow, presuming I can keep my schedule.


	7. Chapter 7

"I am fighting a girl, so troublesome" Shikamaru complained as he made his way down, getting a few encouraging words from Asuma on the way. Kin meanwhile recieved her own encouraging words from her teammates.

Both soon stood facing each other. "Are you ready?" Hayate asked both of them. Shikamaru yawned his assent, while a "Hai" came from Kin. "Well then, Fight!"

Kin jumped backwards, launching multiple senbon, forcing Shikamaru to dodge. Her second wave of senbon jingled, and flew wide. Raising an eyebrows from Shikamaru, who below his lazy exterior, had his mind in overdrive, trying to figure out her tactics, preferably without becoming a porcupine in the process.

His hand dived into his kunai pouch, and returned fire while dodging the third. A sharp pain in his thigh informed him he was not successful, before he could throw his second kunai, he suddenly heard jingling, and lost his sense of balance.

'Poison?.. No.. Genjutsu!' Shikamaru thought, biting his lower lip to break him free, just in time to roll away, he felt something snap against his body, and heard a single jingle.

'Snap? Wire... connected to bell.. Genjutsu timed through the sound of the bells' he thought, now effortlessly countering the next genjutsu attack with his chakra. 'Wire casts shadow..' A smile would have made its way on the boy's face if he wasn't lazy. He quickly sank unto his knees, forming his hands into the proper seal.

His unexpected movement caused Kin's next wave of senbon go over him, who was getting irritated her genjutsu wasn't taking hold, before she suddenly froze up.

A faint smirk managed to make its way on Shikamaru's face, who saw Kin had her hand full with senbon. Forced to mimic Shikamaru, who moved his hand that the senbon threatened to piece Kin's throat.

"Forfeit" he drawled lazily. Kin grimaced "I forfeit" she responded.

"Winner by forfeit, Nara Shikamaru"

Shikamaru released his jutsu, and Kin slumped in defeat. However an approving nod from the disguised Kushina rose her spirits, and she quickly made her way back to her team. Who offered words of consolation while Shikamaru received praise.

Naruto felt obliged to send an approving nod to Shikamaru, he saw the pencil thin shadow move along the shadows of the wires. Realizing slightly after Shikamaru how the Oto girl jingled the bells.

The board spun, and Naruto saw his own name.

"Uzumaki Naruto from Konoha versus Inuzuka Kiba from Konoha"

"Yahoo! We got an easy win!" Kiba laughed. Naruto kept his face impassive, but inwardly.. 'Revenge will be so sweet.' Naruto thought almost bloodthirsty 'Without Mizuki to get on my case whenever I win back at the academy, I can finally get some payback'

"Ready to lose you clan less loser? Akamaru stand to the side, I don't need your help for this" Naruto ignored him, waiting on Hayate to start the match. "Pay attention you failure of a ninja?!" Kiba demanded. Naruto just looked at Kiba bored, further riling up the boy.

'Show him what you can do Naru-chan' Kushina cheered in her mind. 'Beat that fox boy to pulp Kiba' Kurenai thought. Echoing the thoughts of several jonin present.

Seeing the banter wasn't going anywhere. "Are you ready boys?" Both of them nodded. "Then, fight!"

"Il finish this in one move, Passing fang!" Kiba shouted, rapidly spinning, turning into a grey razor sharp corkscrew that spun its way towards Naruto.

'Passing fang huh?' Naruto thought, his mind in overdrive as Kiba spun closer. 'I can see you aim at my side, and your head is exposed' Naruto quickly stepped so Kiba would hit in dead center, anchored himself to the ground with chakra, and cocked back right fist. 'You know the technique, but you haven't mastered it! You are wide open!'

Timing it just right, he plunged his right fist into the eye of the storm, raking the right side of Kiba's head hard as Kiba spun into his fist. Kiba's attack lost its spin rapidly, Naruto weakened his hold on the ground and allowed him to be pushed back by Kiba's momentum, his right fist hurting badly as it kept knocking into Kiba's spinning head, under pressure from holding the attacking dog boy back.

Judging Kiba lost enough spin, his left fist thundered into an uppercut, flying past the spinning clawed hands and hitting Kiba's chest just under his neck, before bouncing upward and hitting his jaw. Kiba's vector was re-directed upward, slowly raising into the sky. Naruto spiked his chakra to his feet, launching himself upward, something he learned during the tree climbing exercise.

He misjudged however, and used to much chakra, missing the chance to use his fists, but settled for a devastating kick to Kiba's midriff, knocking him away, landing roughly halfway the other side of the arena while Naruto landed clumsily. Unbalanced by the rough aerial kick.

"D…Da..Damn you" Kiba cursed, groggily raising to his feet while Naruto regained his balance. "Akamaru, let's go!" he ordered, tossing a pill for the dog to eat. Naruto was too far away to do stop it. He tossed a kunai to try to keep the dog off-balance, but the dog handily dodged it, crunching down on the pill while it did.

The dogs fur turned red. "Beast Human clone!" Akamaru poofed into Kiba. Naruto grinned "You want clones? You get clones, kage bunshin!" A small legion of clones appeared around Naruto, who bull rushed the pair of Kiba's.

Despite the pain Naruto managed to inflict with his combo, Kiba kept up his best, fighting through the mass with bestial efficiency, yet for every two clones he dispelled, he took a hit.

'I am going to lose against that loser at this rate, where is the real one!' Kiba thought, trying to use his nose as the clones where without smell. After a couple of frantic seconds, he found the real Naruto, standing at the back of his home-made horde. "Follow me Akamaru!" he shouted, leaping into the air towards Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise Kiba managed to find him. But then smirked, by jumping, Kiba left himself open. A counterplan formed in his mind. And he quickly made a couple of clones. Both of them aimed their bodies at a Kiba, before supercharging the chakra output at their feet. With a double loud bang, leaving a small crater at their launch site, both clones rocketed towards the Kiba's, knocking into them bodily before dispersing by the pressure of the impact.

Knocked out of balance, direction and blinded by the smoke. Both Kiba and the transformed Akumaru landed roughly near Naruto, who hopped back. His horde of clones descending upon the pair like a pack of raptors.

Before Naruto's clones could properly start the beating. Hayate interrupted "Winner by interference, Uzumaki Naruto"

Naruto, surprised by the suddenly declaration, quickly dispelled his clones before it was used to disqualify him. A small true smile made his way on his face when he realized he had a measure of payback for all the crap Kiba gave him. And that he earned a genuine chance to be promoted.

'Well done Naru-chan' Kushina thought, impressed how Naruto controlled the fight with well-timed taijutsu and a single jutsu, showing another inventive way to use the shadow clone technique. Most of the remaining public was less happy, realizing the unpopular boy might actually make the promotion. With Oto and Suna both having participants, they would also be sending their judges. And if the Konoha ones would judge him unfairly, that would attract attention they did not want to have.

Ignoring the inner turmoil of the room, the board spun uncaringly forward. While the medics carted off a cursing Kiba. "Hyuga Neji from Konoha versus Hyuga Hinata from Konoha"

Naruto saw the anger in Neji's eyes, and realized he would vent that on Hinata. Worried, but aware he could not do anything, he watched helplessly as Hayate started the match, and Neji started assaulted Hinata with words, targeting her fears and self-confidence.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he saw the girls confidence falter. Then, she glanced at him, and Naruto responded by flashing her a big grin, and a thumbs up hidden from the rest the room. It seemed to work, the girl gathered herself and told her cousin to fight.

And fight they did, a rapid clash of finger pokes, palm strikes and other gentle fist attacks clashed back and forth. Initially Hinata seemed to keep up, but Neji's experience won in the end. Slowly closing her tenkutsu in her arm, while redirecting the girls counter strikes to non-vital places. With a powerful blow to the chest, Neji knocked Hinata to the ground. Yet Hinata stubbornly refused to stay down. Much to Neji's ire. The second round of fighting was clearly in Neji's favor, the damage the girl had taken slowing her down too much. Throwing her back on the ground

"It is you who is hurt Neji-neesan" Hinata spoke softly after the match ended in Neji's favor. Standing back on her feet despite the beating she took. Neji eyes conveyed untold anger, and he rushed forward to finish her off. Stopped inches away from dealing a deathblow by the proctor and the three instructors.

"More protection for the main family?!" Neji raged. Hayate shook his head "Protecting you from disqualifying yourself and murder charges Hyuga, now get back up the balconies."

Neji stomped off, while Hinata was taken away by the medics.

Naruto dearly wanted to leap off the balcony, draw upon Kyuubi's power and slaughter the bastard for hurting his family member who cared for him. He was certain whatever issue he had with the main branch family. Hinata wasn't a part of it, she was far too kind for that.

A growl at the back of his mind warned him he was drawing on his tenants chakra, and he stepped back, reining in his anger.

Thankfully the rest did not notice his loss of control. And watched as the board spun again.

"Rock Lee of Konoha versus Gaara from Suna."

Gaara teleported down in a swirl of sand, looking bored. Lee meanwhile unleashed a loud "Yosh!" as he hopped down, brimming with excitement.

"Are you two ready?" "Hai!" A certain green clad genin boomed. Gaara merely nodded. "Then fight!" Hayate yelled, leaping backwards not to get caught in the storm of youth he just unleashed.

Lee shot forward, aiming a flying kick at Gaara's face. To nearly everyone's surprise, sand suddenly sprang from the gourd, blocking the kick. Jumping off, Lee blurred to Gaara's side, aiming a straight punch, yet once again the sand interfered.

Gaara looked bored at Lee "Is that all?" before aiming his arm at Lee "Suna Senbon" he intoned calmly as more sand poured out of the gourd, forming senbon the size of his forearm, before they launched rapidly at Lee.

Lee ducked and weaved beneath the attack, hoping Gaara spend all his sand on the attack, he launched forward. But the sand thwarted him again. Lee was forced away from Gaara by another barrage of sand senbon.

Guy, seeing his mini-me wasn't making any progress, shouted "Lee, take them off!" Lee looked surprised, as he hopped to the top of the statue, standing on top of the finger. "I thought I could only take them off to protect those dear to me." Lee shouted back. Ducking to avoid getting his head taken off by another super-sized needle of sand.

"I allow it!" Guy simply boomed back. "Hai Guy-sensei!" Lee shouted energetically. He quickly ducked down again, removing his leg weight, holding them up, he dropped them. Some of the watchers made fun of the weights. Gaara merely watched, wondering if the fight would become more interesting.

When the weights landed, making a large crater, a giant dust cloud and a worthy boom. He smiled, knowing it just got better.

As lee shot forward again, many times quicker that before. Actually bypassing Gaara's mobile sand defense, and showing Gaara wore a sand armor over his skin as he landed his blows, cracking the armor. Naruto could only watch with awe, impressed by what a dedicated student could do taught by a proper teacher.

Gaara started moving around making it harder for Lee to hit him and riding the blows that came through his defense to reduce the damage, having uncrossed his arms, he actually looked like he was fighting now. A maniac grin made its way on his face. "Yes, make me feel alive!" he shouted and he ordered his sand to envelop Lee.

Temari could only shake her head. It was roughly a month ago when Kushina changed Gaara's seal and had a heart to heart talk with Gaara. She did this after she defeating him in battle. Afterwards her brother actually apologized to her and Kankuro for what he had done. Her baby brother learning the voice in his head was actually a murderous chakra being.

She wasn't sure what she wanted from her now sort off sane brother. But at least the 'Make me feel alive while fighting you' Gaara beat the 'Shut up or I murder you' Gaara hands down. As an added bonus, ever since Kushina had her talk with her father, the man actually seemed to de-thaw a bit, trying to reconnect with his estranged children.

Temari welcomed the change with open arms, always wishing she could keep her family together like her mother did before she died to seal Ichibi in her brother. Kankuro kept his distance, like a true puppeteer and he watched what happened without interfering personally. Gaara rejected all attempts at reproach. Bitter over what happened, but at least he stopped trying to murder the man.

A loud "Yosh!" shook her out of her thoughts, and saw the green spandex boy wrap Gaara in his bandages midair, having launched Gaara upwards with a devastating kick after breaking out of the sand envelopment. Both boys started rapidly spinning to the ground "Front Lotus!", actually worrying Temari Gaara might get hurt.

A loud boom and an enormous dust cloud hid both. Before suddenly a green blur slammed into the wall. And a maniac laughter emerged from the cloud. As the dust settled, it showed Gaara with a maniac grin. "Yes, make me feel alive!"

Lee dug himself out of the wall, standing groggily. He perked up when his sensei shouted. "Lee, the lotus of the leaf blooms twice" Lee responded with an loud "Hai-sensei!" Guy pointedly ignored the horrified look the Konoha jonin sensei shot him.

Lee took a wide stance. Gaara just stepped back and watched, interested in what kind of power up his opponent would make this time. "Kaimon KAI, kyumon KAI, seimon KAI!" Lee chanted, at each 'Kai' more energy started to spark around him, his skin turning red. With the final 'Kai' Gaara would be wearing a chesmire smile if he could. His blood boiling with anticipation.

He would be disappointed however, the green clad boy turned into a blur, rapidly striking him multiple times. His sand armor chipped away with each powerful blow, his sand defense far too slow to keep up. His sand was blasted all over the arena by the power of the green clad boy.

Gaara suddenly felt himself kicked upwards, even as he flew up, more blows landed on him. There suddenly was a pause, acting on instinct, realizing the final blow was coming, his gourd disintegrated, forming a shell around him just as Lee hit, pounding him into the ground. Obscuring his form by the big dust cloud that sprung up from the impact.

Most Konoha genin cheered at the apparent victory of their fellow genin. But stopped when they heard a pained "No" from Guy. As Lee landed, he was suddenly slapped into the wall by a thick tendril of sand. Knocking the boy out. "Yes, you made me feel alive, we must fight again!" the insane boy demanded from the unconscious Lee.

Hayate quickly darted forward, checking Lee's vitals. "Winner by knockout, Gaara!"

Temari sighed in relief, glad her brother made it. Kankuro smiled as Gaara appeared beside him "Well done Gaara, you made us worry." Gaara blinked in surprise. "I am sorry, I did not intend to." He spoke silently. Temari felt like slapping Kankuro. 'He is trying dammit!' "Don't be Gaara, you are safe, that is what matters." She quickly gave him a short hug to reinforce the message.

Kushina smiled at the interplay between the siblings, happy she managed to teach the bullheaded Kazekage he tore apart his own family with what he was doing and had done, losing the only thing he had beside his village.

Naruto felt both awe, and worry. He knew he was stronger with Kyuubi's chakra, but as the woman in the forest had shown, it did not make him invincible, and the power both displayed made him realize how far behind he was.

The last two participants knew they were up, but they had to wait until the worst of the damage was repaired with some earth jutsu. Lee having made multiple craters into the floor and wall. During this, Kakashi returned with an exhausted Sasuke. 'Well that is proof why Sasuke never responded to his horde of fangirls.' Naruto joked to himself. 'It also shows that Kakashi truly bends over for the Uchiha clan'

Kakashi shot Naruto a glare when he heard he won his match. 'Damn you. Couldn't you just die already and leave us in peace?' Kakashi complained in his mind, before distracting himself from his unwanted student with his orange book.

"Akimichi Chōji from Konoha versus Kinuta Dosu from Oto" Hayate announced as soon the arena was repaired.

Choji looked reluctant, but was promised barbeque if he won. Meanwhile the heavily bandaged Oto genin waited patiently for Choji to come down.

"Are you two ready?" Both boys gave him a nod "Very well, the last match, fight!"

"Barbeque!" Choji shouted as a war cry, rapidly expanding in size. Hayate , knowing what an Akimichi could do, rapidly bailed out. Dosu didn't, and his lone visible eye widened in horror as an giant Choji bore down on him.

Snapping out of his surprised stupor, Dosu quickly jumped aside, avoiding becoming a human pancake. Choji made a surprisingly sharp turn for his bulk. Forcing Dosu to rapidly evade again. This time, Dosu managed to create some distance, trying to figure a way to hit the enlarged boys head. Who re-aimed himself, and spun into gear for another charge.

This happened several times, each time Dosu attempted to hit Choji, and Choji trying to squash Dosu. Suddenly, Choji changed tactics, adding a spin to his roll, making him a giant curveball, trying to capitalize on Dosu's tendency to jump to his right.

It failed however, Dosu could dodge on time, and managed to swipe out Choji's head, the melody arm Dosu used completely disorientating and nauseating the boy. Thinking victory was his, Dosu stopped to catch him breath, trying to control his rapid beating heart from surviving multiple attempts of getting the said organ squashed out of him, and completely failing to notice how the disorientated Choji kept rolling around, making a slow lazy turn before approaching him from behind, knocking him over and crushing his legs.

Dosu's loud cry of pain was too much for Choji's head, and with a load groan he returned to his normal size, laying on his back whining to himself.

Hayate waited, hoping Choji would recover, since Dosu's crushed legs would prevent him from standing up. Sadly, after a minute it was clear Choji was incapacitated.

"Since both fighters cannot continue, it's a draw!" he declared, and soon the medics came in, carting both boys to the hospital.

After the arena was cleared out, Hayate appeared in the middle of it. "If all remaining participants could line up here" he ordered.

They did so, and where soon presented with a box. "Each of you will draw a number from this box, this will decide your line up.

Neji went first "Two" he declared.

"Three" from Gaara

"Eight" Temari declared.

"Six" Kankuro added.

"One" from Naruto, who smiled inwardly he could get some payback for Hinata.

"Four" Sasuke said, seizing up Gaara, having missed the fight.

"Seven, troublesome" A lazy Nara complained.

"Five" From Zaku.

Hayate quickly wrote down the numbers.

"The third exam matchups will be this.

The first match is Uzumaki Naruto against Hyuga Neji

The second match is Gaara of Suna against Uchiha Sasuke

The third match is Abumi Zaku versus Kankuro of Suna

The fourth match is Nara Shikimaru versus Temari of Suna

From their it's logical what would happen next. These fights will happen a month from now." Taking in the quizzeled glances from the chuunin hopefuls. He chuckled "This will give Konoha time to prepare for the event, as many foreign dignitaries will come to watch. Are there any questions?"

Shikimaru spoke up "Will only the winner become chuunin?" 'It would be so troublesome to win'

"Good question" Hayate admitted "No, each fight will be judged by the present Kages, and a high ranking member from the villages who attends. That means for the coming exams, there are six judges you need to impress. Winning gives you another chance to impress the judges"

Naruto smiled inwardly. Despite lying to him often, the old monkey was at least fair to him, meaning at worst only one judge could truly be against him.

"Any more questions?" a silence responded him. "Very well, we will see you all next month, take a good look at your opponent, and prepare well. Good luck!"

Naruto glanced at Neji, before walking towards Sasuke and Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto spoke with fake cheer. "How will you be training us the coming month?" Honestly, Naruto already had a good suspicion what the answer to that would be. Kakashi eye-smiled at Naruto "Sorry Naruto, I will be training Sasuke here. Good luck!" and with that, he poofed away with Sasuke in tow.

Baki, the suna jonin sensei looked surprised at the blatant favoritism, and how only Guy seemed to be disturbed by it from the Konoha teams. Kushina would have sighed, if she didn't have to keep her disguise on. 'Well, what do you expect from a student from _that_ man' she thought.

Before she could consider approaching the boy in her current disguise, Guy marched over towards Naruto. "A most unyouthful action from my usually youthful comrade. As Neji will be training with his clan, and with Lee and Tenten in the hospital, allow my youthful self to train you until they recovered."

Naruto blinked in surprise. Not expecting a jonin to offer him help. A smile made his way to his face. "Thank you very much Guy-sensei, when and where do we meet?"

"Meet me tomorrow at the west gate at 5 in the morning, we will start with a most youthful sprint around the village!" Guy boomed.

"Alright, Thank you again. I see you then sensei" Naruto replied with equal vigor. Not noticing the death-glare Kushina was shooting Guy in her disguise.

'If you dare to corrupt my son Guy, I will murder you, revive you, and then torture you, before murdering you again.' She thought dangerously.

AN: You know what's embarrassing? Having to read your own fic to find out who the last fighter was that passed. Slightly longer than usual fic thanks to Gaara/Lee fight, which was surprisingly fun to write, I hope you enjoy reading. Writing the Dosu/Choji fight felt like an counting the beans after an epic boss fight.

Also, another word count mark achieved, 20k words, here I am! \o/

Tormound: Sorry for disappointing you, but my attempt to describe the gentle fist fighting just.. failed… epically. So I destroyed all the evidence I tried.. aside from this statement…

BigBossVince: Do you happen to know where it comes from? It just suddenly hit me when I started to write Kushina. You are most likely correct, but I am faaar too lazy to fix all the pages.

Quest Reviewer: As seen, only Guy, and thus by extension, Lee are friendly. Tenten is neutral. Naruto hates Neji's guts. I will not spoiler the other characters, but some might be overlooked for the sake of storyflow.

Mudane: I love to shout Naruto-style:I will never! But life can be unpredictable, so I cannot make a promise. I suspect Vanex lost interest in his story when he wrote himself in a hole. Something I am trying very hard to prevent.

Sabery: I am afraid I am not sure I understand your question. For Anko, read the first chapter. And honestly, would you waste energy on something so clearly useless?

Plums: I agree the mostly canon style fights are boring, but it's as much as for you, as for me to try and learn writing fights, which I still fail at sometimes. Hopefully the fights in this chapter are different enough to catch your interest. To compensate, its triple chapter day today!

Von Kreuz: It was surprisingly easier this chapter, perhaps because they didn't speak that much, or because letting them be loud felt more natural now.

PS: Chapter might be a bit too hot off the press. But I wanted to finish the prelims.


	8. Chapter 8

One week after the preliminaries: Hidden Lab

Kabuto entered the dark lab, where Kushina was fussing over a cooling corpse. "Kushina-sama" he spoke softly "I have the test results" Kushina turned to face him "And Kabuto-kun?" she asked, no warmth in her voice. "He is indeed your son" Kabuto spoke quickly, and relaxed when a big smile made its way on Kushina's face. Emboldened he asked "Why did you have me to test it Kushina-sama?"

Kushina sighed "Kabuto-kun, the sandaime is a bigger snake Orochimaru could ever be. And then there is Danzo." Kushina scowled "Sometimes the two of those could be the same, if either of them thought my sons heritage was to 'troublesome' as Nara's put it, they could transfer the Kyuubi to another blond kid and have Naru-chan killed."

"But it doesn't matter now" Kushina chirped, gloomy atmosphere disappearing. "He is really my son, so I should talk to him again soon." Kabuto could only shake his head at his masters antics "On other news, the preparations with Suna are going according to plan." "Era, how is Gaara-kun doing?" Kushina asked. "He is doing better now he longer hears Shakaku since you improved his seal Kushina-sama. He picked up a taste for fighting however."

"You flatter me Kabuto-kun, that is good to hear. I saw his battle lust during the preliminaries, perhaps when he is older he will appreciate life beyond fighting". 'My boy turned out rather well despite what happened to him.' Kushina mused.

* * *

One week after the preliminaries: Hokage Office

"Jiraiya-kun, I am glad you could make it." Hiruzen spoke warmly as his student entered the office.

"Hey Sensei, I came as soon the toads informed me you wanted to see me." Jiraiya, the toad sannin responded.

"Yes Jiraiya, we have reason to believe Orochimaru is after the sharingan. And will return later to the village to exact his revenge."

Jiraiya ran his hand through his long white hair. "I see, so you want me to train the Uchiha kid?"

Hiruzen shook his head "No, Kakashi has that handled." Jiraiya sighed in relief. "But perhaps you want to train Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked. Jiraiya looked puzzled "Naruto? Who is he?" the man asked.

Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya like he sprung a second head. "Naruto, Minato's and Kushina's kid?"

"Yeah, what about it the kid?"

"He is your godson!" Hiruzen exclaimed, shocked Jiraiya had forgotten. The man seemed so pleased when the pair informed him.

"So what?" Jiraiya asked, his interest in the conversation gone.

Hiruzen looked flabbergasted at Jiraiya, before a hint of annoyance set in. Before he could speak however.

"Just because he is my godson, doesn't mean I need to care about him" Jiraiya spoke 'Being a godparent means looking after your godchilderen if the parents can't' Hiruzen thought, but before he could voice it, Jiraiya went on "The only thing I care about Tsunade's boobs, my research for my books, and my secret wish that Orochimaru was a woman."

"What?!" Hiruzen blurted out, surprised and disturbed by that wish.

"Think about it sensei" Jiraiya started, a lecherous grin on his face "Orochimaru was so flexible, think about all the poses he could do as woman! And then all the things he could do with his snakes." He finished with a perverted chuckle.

Hiruzen, god of shinobi, was truly speechless as his perverted, apparently mentally disturbed, student ranted on about his former teammate being a female.

"Jiraiya" Hiruzen interrupted "Just stay in the village until the chuunin exams are over understood."

"Sure sensei" Jiraiya replied, before leaping out of the window.

So deeply disturbed by Jiraiya's secret desirers, Hiruzen forgot to assign somebody else to train Naruto and keep an eye on him, incase Orochimaru approached him again.

* * *

Two weeks after the preliminaries: Training field 18

Naruto puffed, trying to catch his breath. Now he understood how the hell Lee could be so fast. The first thing Guy did at the crack of dawn was slapping weights on Naruto's legs. Afterwards ordering him to run around the village, constantly 'motivated' by the booming man.

'I declined wearing that green spandex however' he thought to himself shuddering, imagining himself in the said outfit.

"Alright young Naruto, let us do 100 youthful pushups!" Naruto would have groaned, if he hadn't learned that would result in more 'youthful' exercises. Despite the man's dubious sanity, Naruto would be the first to admit the man knew his stuff.

Naruto's taijutsu was mostly imitated what he saw from other classmates, seeing that the instructors preferred to give him improper instructions. Guy quickly saw this, and moved in to correct this where possible. Naruto had hoped he would teach him the basics of Goken, but Guy had explained that was a dojo style, and he was not planning to take another apprentice.

Although disappointed, Naruto understood and respected the reason. Happy he was not denied because of the fox like many others did.

After each morning torture, which Guy insisted was training. Naruto spend the afternoon working on his clans bloodline. The days before the preliminaries happened, Naruto managed to manifest a solid blob of chakra. A week after his own, very rough chain formed.

He was puzzled by its shape however, like described, it had two edges, indicating wind chakra. Yet also blunt spikes formed, sometimes with some kind of oval shape on top of it, sometimes else the spikes had other blunt spikes sprout from them.

Nevertheless, at the end of the second week. He had managed to smooth out the chain, only preserving the edges of his wind element.

After a rather strenuous morning, Naruto was once again hidden in the forest, practicing his bloodline chains. He had learned after experimenting that the chains formed the easiest on the palms of his hands, and oddly enough, the center of his back. At other places, it took a couple of seconds for the chain to form, and even than it would 'grow' many times slower.

He launched another chain at the tree, pushing and shaping his chakra as quickly as he could. The chain shot across the clearing, embedding itself into the, with a quick pull, it shot free, and Naruto rotated on the spot, slashing multiple tree's with the chains edge before it broke apart in a golden glow.

"Era era, An edged chain, how rare… of course wind element users are rare themselves." Naruto jumped to the center of the clearing, forming multiple shadow clones on the way to guard his back.

"Era, so jumpy" the redheaded woman called out as she calmly appeared from behind a tree. "Quite impressive considering I gave you the scroll three weeks ago" Despite the situation, Naruto couldn't help but blush under the praise. He did resist the urge to rub the back of his head however, keeping his defensive pose.

She chuckled "Now I believe I promised to tell you about your mother back at the forest of death." Naruto stiffened. The woman threw a scroll. Naruto tapped one of his clones to get it, who carefully unfurled it, when it didn't explode in his face, he handed it Naruto, who tried to read it while keeping an eye on the woman.

'A basic biography' he quickly noted, looking further, he soon saw a picture of a bright red-headed woman with blue eyes with black pupils that had a slit in them. Naruto blinked, looked up, and could help but to compare. Surprised, he blurted out "You are Uzumaki Kushina?!"

"Yes, I am" She spoke seriously, her playful demeanor gone.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Why, why lead me on?"

"I had to make sure you where my son." She replied bluntly

"W..what?"

Her voice grew agitated. "How close are you to Hiruzen?"

Confused by the counter question, he was silent for a moment, considering if he should be honest, or reply with the answer anybody from Konoha would expect. 'Well, she isn't from Konoha.. and I want to know…'

"Not close at all, he lied to me my entire life by the looks of it."

She smiled, the agitation seeping out of her. "That's good to hear. I had to make sure, I was afraid he would have killed you soon after the sealing, placing the Kyuubi in another child because of your origins." She rushed out.

"Origins?"

"Your _loveable_ father is the 4th Hokage" she bluntly threw at him.

Naruto gaped, the same guy that ruined his life was his own father.

Taking his silence to continue, she started "The night you were born, a masked…" Naruto recovered and held up his hand. "I know what happened that night, Kyuubi told me." Kushina blinked, not expecting that. "You talk to it?"

"Him, yes I do, it's the reason I can use his chakra that well since nobody trained me."

Now it was Kushina's turn to gape, never expecting her boy to make some sort of peace with the hateful furball she had carried.

"So why did he seal Kyuubi in me, why not back into you?" he asked, now knowing his mother was present during the sealing. And had contained the Kyuubi before.

He wished he hadn't asked the question, tears sprung to her face as painful memories resurfaced "I wanted to do that dattabane! But that _man_ insisted Konoha needed a weapon. If the fox was sealed back into me, we both would have died."

Not wanted to hurt his apparent mother, he tried to ask his next question more carefully. "So.. who or what made you leave?"

Her face turned angry, tears stil flowing "The one-eyed bastard Danzo did. Moments after the sealing, he and his private little army appeared. Knocking me out and dragging me off. Hiruzen or somebody loyal to him must have been close, since you are not an emotionless puppet."

"What happened afterwards?" Naruto asked quietly.

"A month afterwards, Danzo sold me like cattle to Orochimaru. Orochimaru tried to use the Uzumaki vitality to save his life, but when he found out he couldn't. He made me his successor instead to conserve his legacy." Before Naruto could ask the question, she went on "I tried to get you earlier, but I was foiled by the ANBU guarding you. Later you where too wary to go with my agents. Or I was betrayed like Mizuki did."

Naruto blinked "Mizuki worked for you?!" She nodded, the change of subject allowed her to regain her calm composure "Yes, his orders where when you failed the exam to fool you into thinking you could do an extra test outside the forest. From there he would take you to Oto. That night the gate-guards worked for me. That's why you could get so far unnoticed because they were under orders not to inform anybody of you leaving.

"I see" he replied dumbly. Memories of instances of strangers subtly or not so subtly trying to get him to leave Konoha. His own distrust and fear of the consequences holding him back.

After a moment of remembrance while the woman 'No.. my mother' watched on silently. "So.. what now?"

'Now, you stand there while I hug the stuffing out of you Naru-chan' Kushina thought, but she said "Now Naruto, you make a choice. A storm is coming, will you stand with me, or with Konoha?"

Naruto wanted to leap up and shout 'Yes, I will stand with you'. But logic told him not to make such a decision lightly. "Can I think about it?" he asked instead.

The crestfallen expression hurt his heart, but he steeled it, betraying your home, how much you hate it, had dire consequences. "Three days, I will look for you in three days." She responded.

"Thank you" He replied, but she already had disappeared.

Alone in the clearing, he sat down. Trying to process the new information after reading the scroll she had handed to him. His mind whirling, he decided to ask the inner fox, hoping the beast had a convincing argument either way. Channeling some of the beasts chakra, the beast replied the moment the link was established.

**She is strong and will keep you safe, until you are strong enough to keep yourself safe.**

Naruto sighed 'I should have seen that one coming'. He braced himself for an acidic reply from the fox, but it stayed silent.

'I could ask Kabuto, but if Kyuubi is right, he is with the woman, I can't talk with Hinata about betraying the village.' Naruto thought, pinching his the bridge of his nose. 'Although those same people are the only thing I care about in this village. And one of them is most likely on mom's side.' Naruto thought, unknowingly starting to refer the woman as his mother.

Despite Kabuto's bias, he still decided to seek him out. However he was disappointed, Naruto saw that he was supposed to be on duty, but couldn't find the man to his disappointment, and he retired for the night.

He did quickly visit Hinata, but she was asleep, the wounds Neji inflicted taking a heavy toll on the girl. It strengthened Naruto's desire to turn the boy into pulp.

* * *

Kushina felt like crying after Naruto asked for time think. She was certain the boy would leap at her, and they both would hug each other until deep in the night. Where then Kushina could haul her boy to a close by hideout and spend the night snuggling with each other, making up for 13 years of lost time.

But instead, her boy kept this distance. She felt like running to Suna, where Kabuto was currently coordinating Oto's forces. Wrangle him for not properly preparing her son to face her. But she knew that would be unfair, and he was competent worker, killing him would be wasteful and too much of Orochimaru's style.

"It's going to be a stressful three days dattabane" she muttered, trying to let sleep claim her.

* * *

The next day Naruto learned from Guy that although he was welcome to join the morning warming up. Lee and Tenten had recovered, and he would return to training them.

Despite his disappointment Naruto thanked the man for his help.

After his last morning torture, he once again tried to find Kabuto. Yet failed to so. Left on his own devices. He logically tried to weight all his options.

'The more I think about it, the more I wonder why I didn't just say yes.' Naruto mused as he watched out of his ratty apparent window. 'So why didn't I?' Naruto asked himself. Thinking more, he realized he was afraid. 'Afraid to come up short, and die before being free, or hauled back and turned into some kind of puppet for those old people.'

Before he could examine his fears further, somebody knocked on his front door. He walked over, looking through the spyglass.

Right into the scarred face of Ibiki.

For a moment fear overtook him, thinking the woman claiming to be his mother sold him out, before calming down. If that was the case, he'd be dog piled by ANBU by now.

He opened the door "Good afternoon" he spoke neutrally, doing his utmost to keep his poker face on.

Ibiki looked at the blond boy before him, it was clear the boy was nervous about something. He hoped the boy was just nervous facing the head of the T&I. But deep down he suspected it was more.

"Good evening Uzumaki-san, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course, come in." Naruto replied neutrally.

Without further comment, Ibiki marched into the apartment, noting with some distaste it was not really habitable, the boy merely making the best of it. He quickly picked a spot to stand, taking command of the conversation by gesturing the boy where to sit. Leaning against the wall, he made sure he did not stand confrontational.

"You are friends with Yakushi Kabuto correct?" Naruto nodded. "For how long?" Naruto paused, thinking over the question. "Six or seven years." "That is a long time, than surely you know where usually could be found." 'Their also looking for Kabuto?' Naruto asked himself. "Yea, I know his shifts by heart, but I couldn't find him the past two days." Naruto replied honestly. An inquiring eyebrow shot up "Why are you looking for him." 'I said to much...' Naruto cursed to himself. "I was looking for advice about the Hyuga fighting style." Naruto lied.

Ibiki sensed that Naruto was lying by the hesitation, but couldn't find why he would be lying. His knee-jerk reaction would be that it was related to the entire Orochimaru fiasco. But his own research proved Kabuto rarely left the village, on missions or otherwise. So it was unlikely Kabuto was an agent of Orochimaru.

Changing tack. "Why not ask your sensei that?" "Kakashi is far too busy training the Uchiha to pay attention to me" Naruto said bitterly. "And I can hardly ask Guy about his own student." Ibiki sighed, knowing Kakashi's unreasonable hatred all too well.

Ibiki wondered how oblivious Naruto truly was to the hatred around him. From what he had seen during the exam, the boy was intelligent despite the academy rapports saying otherwise, and he sensed that the boy was being sparse with the truth when he reported his encounter with the snake.

It left the Ibiki with the question 'Why?' Was the boy afraid, did Orochimaru make him an offer?

The best way to answer that was to haul the boy to T&I, but the Hokage would protest, furthermore, the boy has proven he could access the beasts chakra when pressured, which would be unhealthy for the interrogators.

Talking to the boy like this would not get him anywhere, and reporting it directly to the Hokage would end up him being painted as one of the Kyuubi haters, which he wasn't. He knew enough about the human psyche to see the boy was not the fox, or fox controlled.

"Very well, If you see Kabuto, let him know I want to talk to him." Naruto blinked by the sudden change of conversation . "I will" Ibiki was glad he already turned his back to the boy, otherwise the boy could clearly see the narrowing off his eyes. 'Most people would ask, are they in trouble'. "Good day Uzumaki" he bit out, before marching out of the door. Trying to figure out the best way to inform the Hokage the boy might not be loyal.

'So they don't even trust me anymore huh?' Naruto thought as soon Ibiki was gone. 'Dammit, aside from Hinata, there is no good reason for me to bother even staying here. I hope she'll forgive me when I leave.'

* * *

The third day came soon enough, and Naruto was back in the clearing. Trying to form multiple chains without them reverting to their more uncontrolled state, where they would easily disintegrate.

"So, did you make your choice?" his mother's voice called out. The woman hidden in the trees.

"I did mother, I will stand with you, what do I do?"

AN: Yes, the 'Wish Orochimaru was a woman' joke comes from the original, I just expanded upon it. I hope I was vague enough with the chains… muhahaha. (I will cry if somebody figures out my plan!)

Unlike the original, my turning of Naruto from Konoha is a lot less emotional. My own fault really, spend so many chapters making Naruto a thinking man. So he had to act with his brain, (And unacknowledged fear) not with his heart. I hope it was believable enough.

Overall, I think I could have done better with this chapter.

Why the focus on Ibiki? Who knows, who knows.

Extra: Dammit, Just when I was planning to post this chapter, the login part goes down due the move x.x

Tormound: I cheated, I had the first four chapters written when I posted the first. I am fairly certain today will be another double chapter day, after that, the slowdown will most likely occur, but I am aiming to keep up 1 chapter per day.

Von Kreuz: Did you read this chapter before I posted this? :P I was a bit too vague, but the interference was from the proctor, who declared Naruto the winner without Kiba being knocked out.

Guy, for all his craziness, strikes me as a fair person. That, and I needed someone that wasn't Kushina to improve Naruto's overall psychical abilities.

Homarid: Thank you, despite the major changes in the coming events, I will be following the major canon plotpoints (Where applicable of course) and I have my own little do-to list. (Or at least Kushina has)

BigBossVince: Drat, thanks.

Question to all my loyal reviewers. How readable and interesting are my fighting scenes? With an invasion coming up soon, I'd like to know if its readable and interesting enough.


	9. Chapter 9

Kushina beamed with happiness when she heard that, and wanted to do three things. First hug her son to death. Then twist his ear for making her worry. Lastly make him call her 'mom' instead of going all formally on her.

However, as much as she loathed it, family bonding had to come later. She smiled at Naruto "I am glad you made up your mind." Curiously, "What made you doubt? She asked.

"The few bonds I have with the village, and fear." Naruto replied honestly, Kushina raised an eyebrow, but decided to drop the issue.

"Very well, as much as I love to take you with me, and never look back. Konoha won't leave us in peace. Not with you being the container of the fox." Kushina spoke "Furthermore, we both have problems with people in this rotten village." Venom started to enter her voice "I have gathered a force and I have allies, we will strike soon to cripple the village"

"Cripple? Why not destroy it?" Naruto asked, intrigued.

Kushina smiled, happy to see Naruto truly made up his mind "Destroying a village is hard Naruto-kun. At any given moment roughly a third of the village fighting force is out doing missions, patrols or stationed at outposts." Kushina started to pace "Even with all the ninja wars, only a handful where truly wiped out beyond recovery." Kushina smiled grimly again "Although clans can be stubbornly hard to wipe out ne?"

Naruto nodded, understanding his mother's point. "After Konoha is struck and weakened, Iwa will be watching very closely. The fourth did make them hate Konoha thoroughly. With those two villages snapping at each other like rabid dogs, it will give Oto and its allies time to capture and consolidate pieces of fire country."

Naruto was silent. Kushina kept on talking "But that is for the future, now we need to focus on the now. I believe you have a score to settle with the Hyuga?" Naruto scowled at the thought of Neji "Good, show them family is important." Naruto nodded 'One of the main beliefs of the clan, Family sticks together.' He thought.

Kushina taps her chin in thought, making minor adjustments of her plans in her mind. "I will use the start Gaara-kun's match as a signal… I will need to remind Gaara-kun not to kill the Uchiha however."

She saw Naruto's disappointed face.

"Era era, we will get him later that day. He just needs a bit more time to be useful." She teased, seeing Naruto looking at her in confusion.

"Now Naruto-kun, how many tails of Kyuubi's chakra can you use and stay in control?" "Three.. I think" Naruto replied nervously, surprised by the sudden change of tack. "You think?" Kushina echoed. Naruto looked both embarrassed and stressed. "It's not like I got a lot of chances to practice with the fox dattabayo."

Kushina blinked, and then groaned. Naruto fidgeted, afraid his lack of control would ruin his mother's plan.

"You have my verbal tick" Tears comically sprung from her eyes "I had so hoped you hadn't"

"Eeh?" Naruto looked absolute flabbergasted.

Shaking her head and getting back on track "The signal will be quite clear, when it does, follow Gaara-kun and protect him until he is ready. His siblings will tell you what targets you will attack. Unless you have a preference?"

Naruto shook his head. "I wish I could tell you more Naru-chan, but it's safer if you don't know. That way you cannot accidently give away information. You wouldn't want to have a chat with Ibiki."

Naruto grimaced, already having had a chat with Ibiki, he told his mother so. "I see" Kushina contemplated. "Ibiki always has been a sharp one. I will tell Kabuto-kun to stay out of public eye when he comes back. Just keep looking for him, otherwise Ibiki will get even more suspicious. "

"Era, before I forget" Kushina pulled a scroll free, and tossed it to Naruto, who unfurled it. Quickly scanning it, he saw it was a jutsu scroll. "Learn a new jutsu in less than two weeks?" he muttered to himself, but Kushina heard him.

"Era, I know it is short, but do your best ne?" She suddenly brightened up. "Do you know the secrets of the shadow clone?" Naruto closed the scroll "I do, but it gives me an enormous headache if I try to use it for training."

"I understand, I see it is a kinjutsu for more than just its large chakra cost." Kushina replied. "I am looking forward to seeing you deal with that Hyuga."

Naruto smiled, and Kushina disappeared.

* * *

Sasuke was panting after an round of endurance training. Ever since Kakashi took him to train him one on one, he had been pushed hard. 'Finally I am getting stronger to kill _him_' the avenger thought.

"Era era, training hard I see." A woman's voice called out.

Sasuke whirled towards the origin of the voice

"You!" He hissed.

"Era, Me!" the concealed Kushina taunted.

"Show yourself, and dare to face the Uchiha might!"

Kushina shot forward, appearing at the Uchiha side, her body horizontal supporting herself with her hands, one foot was kicking Sasuke's legs under him, the other hit the back of his head, forcefully planting the Uchiha's face into the ground. She gracefully flipped away from Sasuke, standing upright like nothing had happened.

Sasuke groaned, and slowly picked himself up. "You are strong, truly worthy of becoming my wife"

Kushina had to rein in her temper, dearly wishing she could hit the boy very hard on the head, perhaps fixing him. 'Really, is that the only thing he thinks about, killing his brother and demanding strong women to become his wife?'

"Era, Did you master my little gift already then?"

Sasuke growled, before admitting "I can't use it anymore."

'Can't use it anymore?' Kushina echoed in her thoughts, blurring behind Sasuke, harshly tugging aside his clothing that concealed the mark. Kushina eyes widened in surprise 'The copycat is better at sealing than I thought.' "Era, allowed somebody to mess with it ne?" The Uchiha stood still, just answering with a simple "Hn"

"This.. might hurt a little" Kushina spoke cheerfully, before poking the seal Kakashi overlaid over her mark. Sasuke would have collapsed in pain if Kushina hadn't grabbed his neck with her other hand. Working with one hand on the containment seal. She destroyed its containment functions, while still making it look functional.

She carelessly tossed the Uchiha back to the ground, clapping her hands like she wants to clean of the filth on it. "Era era, it couldn't hurt that much." Inwardly however, Kushina was displeased. 'Kakashi's seal ruined the timing I had, he won't be ready until weeks after the invasion.'

"Dammit woman, treat me with the respect the Uchiha deserves" he demanded, still face down on the ground.

"Era era, are you sure you are man enough for me." Kushina taunted. It worked, with a snarl the Uchiha boy rose, wisps of black chakra emitting from the seal. Moments after, a loud "Sasuke" echoed through the forest, shocking Sasuke out of his anger, stopping the seal to emitting chakra. Moments later, Kakashi appeared next to the boy.

"Show me the seal." He demanded, Sasuke reluctantly showed it, unsure what to expect. Kakashi sighed in relief. 'Must have felt it wrongly then, the containment seal is still working.' Kakashi eye-smiled to Sasuke "Sorry, I must be mistaken. I will be working on the camp then, continue your cool down"

As soon Kakashi was gone, Kushina reappeared. "Era era, you nearly gave us away there." Sasuke turned towards the woman "How do I use this?" He demanded.

"Era era, I thought the Uchiha prodigy would have figured it out by now" Sasuke wanted to attack her, but suddenly realized why she was taunting him, anger was a trigger. Kushina smiled mockingly as a look of understanding dawned on Sasuke's face. "You either get angry, or you focus your own chakra on where the seal is located, it will bleed back more powerful chakra in return, making you stronger."

"Of course, you should only practice when Kakashi is not anywhere near, otherwise he will seal off that power again, and how else would you kill Itachi?" Sasuke snarled again like a rabid animal, and leapt towards the woman to attack. But before he could reach her, she suddenly turned brown dirt, and crumbled.

* * *

Several days later

Kabuto observed from the darkness as Baki finished the proctor, Hayate Gekko, who interrupted their meeting. Kabuto was glad he forced himself to learn the basics of using genjutsu, cleverly covering up the site of the fight.

He silently watched as Baki skillfully used his blade of wind to outmaneuver the Konoha swordsman, cutting deeply into the man's torso, killing him.

He leapt towards Baki, landing near the man. "The plan is still go on, despite the interruption" he spoke, before leaping off.

Baki merely offered a grim smile, before leaving the scene himself, making sure he left no traces of his presence. Nor that the Konoha man left any clues behind on what he discovered.

* * *

The next day

Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose, problems seemed to be stacking up lately. First is this mysterious village, Otogakure popping up. With rumors Orochimaru is the Otokage, the same Otokage he received a confirmation letter that he would be watching his genin participate. Meaning he either invited Orochimaru legally into his village, protected by international law. Or the rumors are false, despite their sources and the amount of times it popped up over the years.

His former prodigy student made his appearance during the second exam in the guise of a redheaded female. Either implying Orochimaru learned a jutsu that allowed to steal a person's face. Or he succeeded in his quest of immortality, by taking over the lives of people.

The woman's description made him worry she was an Uzumaki, which made a logical choice for Orochimaru to take over with their long lifespan. Still, it implied survivors, he had genuinely hoped that with Kushina's disappearance, the only remaining Uzumaki would be oblivious to his origins, loyal to Konoha. It seemed however that Kiri and Kumo were not as efficient as he had hoped.

Sadly, the boy was also the container of the nine-tailed fox. Despite Ibiki's suspicions otherwise, Hiruzen doubted the boy would defect somehow, thanks to his environment he was far too wary of other adults aside from him. 'His lying back at the training ground 44 was simply because he afraid.' Hiruzen convinced himself.

Hiruzen wished he had taken the time to talk to the boy one on one. But Orochimaru's appearance cut heavily into his time. Further compounded by the question mark that was Yakushi Kabuto, who in hindsight, was clearly a spy, but for who? And telling Naruto his only friend was a traitor would be a tricky case.

When he thought he finally had time, Hayate Gekko is found death. Either cut by a wind based attack, or a sharp blade.

That left the rather annoying question of "Why?" What did Gekko find that caused him to be killed.

Lastly, there was the marked last loyal Uchiha. Hiruzen shuddered at the thought his former student could do combining his immortality jutsu with the Uchiha eyes. Possibly making his dream to learn every jutsu a reality.

In the end, he could only watch, and hope the various divisions he had under his command could figure out it before it was too late, because he couldn't. Hiruzen realized he spread himself to thin with all the events that happened the past month.

He sighed out his frustration, and prepared to meet his foe, his mighty pen in his hand, and assaulted the hordes of paper.

* * *

Day of the third exam.

Naruto was both excited and nervous. Excitement that he could settle his grudge with Neji, and if everything goes according to plan, he'd be with his mother tonight. He was nervous because that same plan meant he would be taking his first human life. He had taken enough lives of animals, but that was purely for survival during the rougher patches in his life.

He realized killing a human would be different, he had planned to make Neji his first, for trying to kill Hinata. Naruto managed to get full story why Neji hated Hinata so much from the girl when he visited her yesterday in the hospital.

Hinata however urged him not to kill Neji however. Not wishing to break her kind heart, he settled on maiming. 'I wonder how my chains edges cut human flesh' Naruto thought sadistically.

He truly was nervous about failing however, Naruto for the first time in his life realized he truly wanted to prove himself to someone, namely his mother. Despite having barely spoken to her, the emotions she displayed struck a chord in his well hidden heart.

Double checking his kunai pouch, tugging his clothing for the last time, Naruto set out towards the arena. Keeping himself to the back alleys and out of general sight, the last thing he wanted was a group of civilians, or worse, ninja, stopping him from showing up.

He made his way to the arena without accident, and joined the sand siblings, who were early together with Zaku. The group was soon joined by a yawning Nara, who was complaining the entire thing was to 'troublesome'. Shortly before they were called out, Neji walked in, his very stance shouting he had already won the entire thing. Looking at the other participants as they were bugs.

Only Sasuke was missing as the assembled chuunin hopefuls marched out, forming a line in front of the Kage balcony.

Hiruzen, in full Hokage outfit, soon made his appearance, the public applauding him loudly. He watched with pride towards the three genin, before frowning slightly seeing Sasuke was late. He was soon joined by Shinkiro, the 4th Kazekage, also wearing the full kage outfit. However his were colored yellow. Lastly, a woman joined the pair, her hair fiery red, violet eyes gazing regally. She wore a dark dress, a massive Uzumaki spiral on her back, a small musical note in the center of it.

"Hello Shinkiro-kun, Hokage-dono" Kushina spoke formally. Hiruzen looked like he saw a ghost arise from the grave. "Kushina?!" he blurted out. Kushina grinned impishly "Hello old monkey" she replied 'Protocol be damned' she thought gleefully

"I thought you died that night" Hiruzen said, shock still clear on his voice. Kushina put on a show, looking surprised. "Why would you think that, it was your ANBU that told me Naru-chan and Minato-koi died that horrible night."

Hiruzen could not help shooting a glance towards the lower seating area, where the elder council and Danzo sat. Kushina smiled inwardly. 'After reading everything in Orochimaru's archives, I started to suspect the two of you were two pea's in pod. Danzo shadow hiding in the light you project Hiruzen. It's just that your shadow does things on its own.'

Hiruzen's mind whirled, so busy he never took in the coincidence of appearances between Kushina and Orochimaru. Before he broke out in a cold sweat, Kushina's son, Naruto was down that arena! 'If she still has that temper…' Hiruzen shivered '…Damn you Danzo, what kind of mess did you make trying to get a pet jinchūriki'

'Dammit, if Kushina tells this to Naruto, Naruto might go berserk. And I can't trust Kushina to stop him from rampaging in Konoha.' Hiruzen thought, making a mental note to recall Yamato as soon as he got a chance.

Shaking himself out of his shocked stupor, he quickly droned out an introduction. Before signaling the new proctor, Shiranui Genma to start the first match.

"Uzumaki Naruto from Konoha versus Hyuga Neji from Konoha!"

AN: I really dislike how most fic's use the shadow clone training cheating thingy without.. negative consequences. Although I give my props to the ones that do, or limit it for good reason.

I am less than happy with this chapter, the conversation feels woody, And Hiruzens insight on the situation, and by extension, Konoha feels… crappy. But I hope I managed to convey the information. Also the scene switches feel.. not fluid. Hopefully I can make it up with the next fight ^.^

For those disappointed I won't be burning down Konoha to the ground. I have my reasons.

Von Kreuz and Homarid: Either great minds think alike, or you guys are mind readers. I refuse to accept another option. :P (Ps, I had my suspicions, but I can't mind read like you do! :( )

Quest Reviewer: Sorry, I won't answer that, too spoilerrific. You'll read about it in 5 to 7 chapters id suspect.

Vanex: Thanks, I am glad the author of the original story approves.

Wyrtha: Honestly, I hadn't thought about teasing Kiba about it. And yes, Jiraya wont teach Naruto, I always found the results of his training during the timeskip… disappointing.

Also.. now that you mention it.. I do portray Konoha to be horrible incompetent eh? Sadly no new taijutsu styles, even if Naruto had the full month, that's quite a short time to become proficient, and Naruto has other training commitments above it.

I am glad you liked Ibiki's part, I was unsure about that one if I was portraying him correctly.

Ncpfan: I stil looking for a good place, moment and reasons to utterly destroy Jiraya. I might actually let him die his canon death. Or I kill him during the invasion. Not completely sure yet, because he does not train Naruto, he isn't a very important character anymore. (My Priority of Characters looks completely messed up if you compare their importance with the canon ones)

Guest reviewer nr2: Teasing my reviewers is more fun than writing the story! :D

Also Yay, I got over 100 minions.. I mean followers. Thank you for keeping an eye on my story.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ready you two?" Gemna asked the boys, one standing nobly, feeling victory was assured. The other haunches, like a hunter ready to pounce. "Very well, fight!" Gemna declared, before leaping clear.

Neither boy moved, both in battle ready stances. Neji spoke up "Give up, Fate has declared me the victor" Naruto mocked looking around "Are you sure? I am not seeing any signs, and senbon guy didn't declare you the winner." Naruto taunted back 'Predictable, I had a month coming up with witty comebacks.'

"A deadlast without a clan like you would not understand fate, my victory is ensured." Neji replied haughtily. 'Without a clan huh?' Naruto smirked, forming a chain in each hand, slowly letting the chain grow, forming a small pile on the ground. Neji's eyes widened as he saw the solid chakra stay in shape.

"Honestly I don't understand you branch members" Naruto monologues. "When there is finally a kind, gentle and caring soul in the main branch, instead of cherishing it, letting it grow stronger, strong enough to open the lock on your bindings. You push that soul away like the main branch did. You make your own fate, and you decided to stay a slave."

Hinata blushed at Naruto's monologue, well aware who Naruto was referring to. Haishi scowled at the boys words, painting the Hyuga in a bad light. Hanabi, who had been brought along to see 'The pure blood of the Hyuga clan in action' now saw a reason why her elder sister was so smitten with the boy.

Neji grimaced at the punch line, and with a wordless snarl, his bloodline flared, and he charged forward. Naruto responded by yanking his right arm back, bringing the chain he was holding into movement. The chain flew backward. He Then he made a horizontal slicing motion with his arm, while focusing the chakra at the tip of the chain upward. The combined motions caused the chain to move like a giant falling sword.

Neji, spotting the chains rapid approach, halted his charge and dived left. The chain embedded its height into the ground, forming a swallow trench. Neji quickly recovered, and continued his charge, but Naruto was already moving, swinging his left arm outward, he made an horizontal slice, once again using his limited control over the chain to make it act like a large whip.

Neji dived under the swipe, and soon started to close the last distance between the two, smirking as it seemed Naruto tangled himself up. "Accept you fate!" Neji bellowed as he prepared to strike. Naruto smirked in return, and used his control of the chain to the fullest, making the chain embed in the ground move its entire length towards Neji.

'Mom could probably write her name in the air with her chains in the air with the control you can get over them.'

However, instead of disengaging to avoid the blow, Neji allowed the chain to bite into his side, and soldiered on, striking multiple times, forcing Naruto to clumsily block the blows with his left arm. Several tenketsu where closed. But before Neji could capitalize, Naruto ducked under his next blow, and moved his right hand, already dropping the chain it held, which started to disintegrate. He formed a new chain on his open palm, improvising it as a stabbing weapon, striking Neji's wounded side.

The blow caused Neji to flinch for a vital second, although Naruto could barely feel his hand, he could still use his elbow, and used it as a cheap shot to slap Neji's face. Both fighters took a step away from each other. Naruto backpedaled further, Neji in hot pursuit after shaking off the pain.

Forcing his numbed hand into its half of the shadow clone jutsu handseal, he quickly formed a clone. The clone used the substitution jutsu with him. Taking the next set of rapid blows, before poofing out of existence.

Neji, who had a full blown smirk at what he thought was landing crippling blow, turned to full surprise his opponent disappeared, before he noticed Naruto in his 360 vision. His lips curled in displeasure.

As Neji whirled to face him, Naruto formed more shadow clones to buy himself more time, grimacing in pain as he forced more chakra through the remaining tenketsu in his left arm. 'I hope the fox can fix this if he lands more blows.' Naruto inwardly mused.

Neji remained calm as he was quickly surrounded, fighting stoically through the storm, skillfully avoiding Naruto's blows while landing his own, destroying the clones with frightening efficiency.

Naruto would admit he was impressed, although his chains where not enormously sharp, they did cut flesh. Neji had taken two blows to the right side, now slightly bleeding, but he kept fighting like he was not hit at all.

Joining his horde of clones trying to find an opening, he rubbed his left arm without noticing. Neji, who was systematically scanning all the clones with his byakugan saw the odd movement, and rushed forward, breaking through the surrounding line.

Naruto, his view blocked by his own clones, could not react on time. A clone however saw it happening, and substituted itself with Naruto, taking the blow. Naruto, unaware what gave him away, did his best to blend in his dwindling horde.

Realizing sending a limited number to engage Neji would not work, as the boys superior speed and experience in hand to hand combat would prevail. Naruto mentally went over the options he had. 'Kyuubi chakra.. last resort. My new wind jutsu will only push him around, he is too good to be caught off-guard by that. Attrition might work, but he has a way to find the real me. He is too fast for my chakra chains to hit. Perhaps a well-timed team attack from clones can do the job? I only need to further open up the wounds I already made'

Coming to a solution, he made a new batch of clones, soldiering through the pain his left arm provided him. The new clones quickly filtered through the current ranks, corralling Neji, and preventing new uninformed clones to enter the fray. 'Well, this proofs I can work well with myself.' Naruto joked inwardly.

Neji, already having observed the changing pattern before he even finished the last of the clones. Narrowed his eyes. 'I did not expect to be forced to use Kaiten against him, but jumping is far too dangerous.' He saw the telltale signs of the clones to pounce, and saw they were too well coordinated for him to gain an opening.

As the clones launched themselves forward, Neji started to spin, the main branch Hyuga gasping in surprise as they recognized what he was doing.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"

The whirling dome of blue chakra stood firm in the sea of approaching clones, dispelling them all. Naruto and the uninvolved clones gazed closely as the smoke was pushed away by the sphere. As Neji started to slow down, a couple of ambitious clones charged forward, hoping to use his disorientation.

Neji quickly showed he was not disorientated.

Naruto gritted his teeth as the remaining clones charged in to buy him more time. 'Now I got to deal with an omnidirectional defense too…I could try to exhaust him by trickling in more clones as he spins, but I do not know how much chakra costs him to keep the defense up. Thankfully he doesn't move… wait a second.'

Naruto smiled grimly. 'If this doesn't work, it's going to be hard.' He thought, as he summoned a new gang of clones, who already knew what to do. Neji tried to interrupt the process, but the clones smoothly absorbed his interruption, and once again prepared to launch themselves at him.

However, instead of launching as soon as they could, they stood teasingly, all ready to go at him, Neji in the center of the circle, ready to use 'Kaiten' again. Neji used his 360 degree vision, trying to figure out why the delay was.

He soon found it, one Naruto, most likely the original, was forming an extremely thick chain. As understanding crossed his face, the clones launched themselves.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"

Once again the defense weathered the attack flawlessly, however, this time the remaining clones threw themselves one after the other at the sphere. Other clones formed half a ring, prepared to force Neji into his Kaiten again.

Naruto meanwhile made the most thick and stiffest chain he could. He was completely absorbed in this process, and sincerely hoped his clones would succeed in distracting Neji. He left himself wide open.

Judging the chain long enough by feeling, Naruto opened his eyes, and saw his clones managed to keep up their distraction, their numbers where dwindling rapidly however. He noticed the formation of the chain and all the earlier clones but a dent in his reserves, and cursed himself in his mind for forgetting about the invasion.

With a warcry, he charged forward, as he closed near the blue protective sphere, he jumped upwards, made a full turn his axis, building up momentum for his chain, before unleashing it in a devastating horizontal swing, the far end of the chain gauged a trench into the ground, catching some of his own clones, before it slammed into Neji's defense.

Neji, having seen the incoming attack, increased his efforts to strengthen the barrier.

The chakra barrier grinded away the chain, but inside Neji was losing speed.

The chain broke first, cracking before violently dissipating. The force enough to unbalance Neji out of his ultimate defense. The remaining clones immediately pounced on him.

Neji put up a desperate defense, initially successfully keeping them at bay, but then the earlier half ring of clones charged in, forcing Neji to face them, no time to start spinning for new Kaiten. Without meaning to, he allowed a clone to enter the Hyuga secret blind spot. The opportunistic clone landing a blow on his head.

Neji reacted immediately, but the rash action left him open for another clone, who took a cheap shot at his open wounds in his side. Shocking him with pain even as he dispelled the offending clone. More blows found chinks his defense even as he nearly dispelled all them.

Another clone came to his right side, clearly attempting to hit his wounds. His palm lashed out, but surprisingly the clone left arm raised in defense. Neji's palm slapped against it, but the clone didn't dispel, instead, thundering its right fist into his side. 'He is the real one!' Neji thought. Before grunting in pain as the attack hit.

But before he could do anything, Naruto right hand grabbed unto the offending palm, using it to drag Neji's side into his rising knee. The cry of pain told Naruto the pain broke through the boys impressive mental fortitude.

Using the opening, a remaining clone kicked Neji's legs under him, another one jumped on his back as he toppled down, grabbing an arm into a submission hold. The clone who kicked Neji taking the other one. A third restrained his legs. The real Naruto took out a kunai, kneeled down, and placed it to Neji's neck.

A byakugan enhanced glare greeted him, but did not stop him from making the final taunt. "Where is your fate now Neji?"

"The winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" Gemna shouted, stopping the match before the Hyuga boy would risk his life for his pride.

The clones dispelled, and Naruto rose back to his feet and walked towards the area the medics where waiting. A team quickly making its way over towards Neji, hoisting him up as they tried to staunch the bleeding.

Only the foreign public applauded for Naruto, impressed ferocity of the fight and the will both boys displayed to win.

Neji looked at the sky as he was turned around. Darkness encroaching his vision. 'Where is my fate indeed' he could not help but think. 'He rose above it.' He had to accept. Than his taunt at the beginning of the match echoed through his mind. 'Who could that… Hinata… am I truly that blind?'

Darkness claimed him before he could answer himself.

* * *

Kage balcony as the fight started.

"Uzumaki Naruto" Kushina echoed after the announcer. She turned towards Hiruzen. "That would not be my Uzumaki Naruto I hope?" she asked with anger blazing in her eyes.

Hiruzen sighed "It is" he replied plainly.

"I hope he was treated well despite being the unwilling container then?"

Hiruzen's eyes widened at her blatantly revealing a secret in front of a third party. But did not answer.

That was answer enough for Kushina. "We will have words" she said with a glare. "Yes, we will" Hiruzen glared back.

"You can fight it out later" Shinkiro spoke gruffly "We have genin to judge, both of them are doing well." He said as Naruto made his second attack with his chains.

Hiruzen nodded, and focused on the fight, Shinkiro and Kushina shared a glance, the final part of their misdirection campaign complete.

Kushina was surprised Hiruzen did not interrogate her on Naruto's usage of the Uzumaki bloodline. 'I should have told him not to use it until the invasion.. on the other hand, he needs it without resorting to the Kyuubi.' She noted to herself, as Naruto started the final clash of chain against kaiten.

"Both have the strength of a chuunin" Shinkiro mused aloud "However, the Hyuga relies too much on his clan arts, and did not seek a way to escape being surrounded. I do not think he is ready just yet." Hiruzen and Kushina nodded their agreement. "The Uzumaki clearly lacks experience, he was surprised multiple times and underestimated the Hyuga's speed, he needs more experience before climbing the ranks. I am surprised you let such a green genin participate Hokage-dono."

Hiruzen frowned, realizing Kakashi did a below par amount of missions with his team. "I agree Kazekage-dono" he replied.

Down below in the arena, Naruto walked into the hallway connecting to the participant alcove. In the hallway stood a single ANBU, he wore a mask with red markings. Naruto stiffened. 'Dammit, I was so focused on beating Neji, I completely forgot I shouldn't be able to use my chains!'

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. Nothing is wrong." Spoke the ANBU, his voice familiar to Naruto.

Knowing he couldn't use the man's real name "Helmet?" he asked. He could see him blink through the eye holes, and then he swore saw the smug smile under the mask. "Correct Naruto-kun. Should Sasuke be disqualified, take your time fighting Gaara." Kabuto said cryptically.

Naruto nodded, clearly there was a backup plan incase Sasuke and Gaara didn't clash.

Having said his piece, Kabuto swirled around, and walked away. Naruto continued his track, he replayed the fight in his mind. 'Damn, I was so focused on beating him down, I completely forgot to leave him a mark to remember me by.. I could have poked out an eye at least.'

Arriving at the contestant alcove, he nodded towards the sand siblings before standing next to Shikimaru.

* * *

Crowd stands

Lee gaped, he couldn't believe the rival he so far failed to beat, was defeated by a junior genin.

"Such a youthful fight!" Guy exclaimed, tears in his eyes. "Perhaps this defeat will set Neji on youthful mindset!" Tenten was utterly surprised too, not believing Neji was defeated, and only able to use one of his aces.

Over at team Kuranai, the emotions were mixed. Hinata was happy Naruto managed to win, and her cousin was not badly hurt. Kiba was angry Neji failed to beat up Naruto, still smarting over his loss. His mother took his defeat as an excuse to train him into the ground. Shino observed it all quietly, having nothing against Naruto, although he was intrigued by the chakra chains.

Kurunai was angry the boy had won. But the anger was less than usual, because she saw Kushina sitting in the kage balcony, alive and well. She could not wait to talk with her surrogate mother. Asking her where she was.

Team Asuma behind team Kuranai chatted over Naruto's surprising progress. Impressed by the fight. Asuma himself slowly took a drag from his cigar. Unlike most others present, his stay at the 12 guardians allowed him intricate knowledge over the lesser known bloodlines, and he was well aware that Naruto's chakra chains indicated him as a main branch family member of the Uzumaki family, despite his lack of red hair.

He had also seen Kushina, and it was quite likely in his mind that she was the boy's mother. With her being a kage of foreign village, the nonsense Konoha but the boy through could be used as blackmail against Konoha. The potential to tarnish Konoha's image was quite great.

Sakura, seeing the power and ferocity of the fight, could not help but wonder what she was doing in her life. Naruto seemed to have improved by a giant leap. Deep down she had to admit he was far stronger than she credited him for, something he showed repeatedly in the forest.

'What have I been doing….' She asked herself, realizing how much she did not train, while Naruto and Sasuke trained themselves hard.

"The next match will be Gaara of Suna against Uchiha Sasuke from Konoha" Gemna declared.

Gaara appeared at his starting point in an explosion of sand.

Sasuke did not appear.

The public started to fidget, wondering where Konoha's golden boy was. Hiruzen, up in the kage balcony sighed. "I see he has taken Kakashi's habits." He spoke tiredly. "However its unbecoming of a chuunin to be late. I think I will disqualify him."

Kushina and Shinkiro shared a glance. Although they had a backup plan. It relied on Gaara to control his hunger for battle.

"Hmmm" Shinkiro made a contemplative sound "Perhaps we can push their match back. The Uchiha boy is very popular is he not?" Hiruzen nodded hesitantly "Perhaps we can push the match back to the end. His lateness will be taken up in his judgement."

Kushina chuckled "You just want to see your own boy in action Shinkiro-kun" The Kazekage shrugged, guilty as charged. "But agree, please push back the match Hokage-dono" Hiruzen watched the byplay between the other two leaders. 'They know each other well, why would they want Sasuke to fight?' "Very well.." he stood up. "Gemna, push the match to the back. And start the next one"

This was greeted by a cheer from most Konoha inhabitants.

Naruto muttered something about favoritism. Gaara looked bored out of his mind. Kankuro and Zaku glanced at eachother. "The next match will be Kankuro of Suna against Abumi Zaku from Oto, could you please make your way down here."

Both walked down the hallway leading to the arena. Quickly glancing around to make sure nobody was listening in, Kankuro spoke softly. "Get hit by the needles in the mouth" before handing Zaku a small vial. Zaku started to open it, but was stopped by a soft "Afterwards" and quickly pocketed the vial.

Both soon stood at the center of the arena. "Are you both ready?" He asked the pair. Getting two nods in return. "

"Well then, the second match starts.. .now!" Gemna shouted.

AN: Crappy cliffhanger, I know. I hope the Neji/Naruto fight was good enough. The first write up was too one-sided. (Tbh, the canon fight is just Neji knocking Naruto around, and Naruto being too stupid to realize he is outmatched until he uses the fox. Why he just didn't summon a bunch of toads to help him il never know….). Before you comment Neji becomes too weak at the end of the fight, remember he is bleeding the entire time.

pain17ification and Kage88: This truly is not teasing, but I have no clue what I will do with the romance stuff. I have some ideas, but the romance is the only thing currently not set in stone in any form at all.

Vanex: It was one of the first things I planned to change when I was planning the story. Orochimaru played as 'minor villain' until Akatsuki was ready to take over as major one in canon. Konoha will do the same as Oto grows, although I admit I am still trying to sketch a believable political situation with Konoha pounded.(Or somebody trying to stop a new rising star) I suspect Akatsuki will capture 4 or 5 tails and 2 tails early in order to create a reason for Iwa and Kumo to stay their hands. With Mizu stuck in its civil war they are no threat.

Also, how did you make sure you had handled all the characters during the invasion, every time I think I got everything, reviewers remind me of –another- person to remember. QQ

Von Kreuz: Okay is good enough, I wasn't happy with that chapter, but it was needed. As you see, Neji survives un-maimed, you can plan to maim, but you need to have a chance, and Naruto was pushed hard. (although I did consider blinding Neji, I still have uses for him *evil laugh*). I was very happy when he approved.. because I forgot to mail him for permission using his idea. *waves to comment above* Sorry Vanex!

Tormound: An headache usually indicates something is wrong with your grey goo, like its dried out when you drank too much the night before. Naruto is being careful.

Wyrtha: So bloodthirsty, I hope I can sate it. Jutsu will be a canon one, and not so impressive. I like being a tease however.

ChibakuNaruto: Re-read the past chapter if you want to know if Naruto goes Kyuubi.. As for the sage stuff.. well… not telling.. whatever I add is to spoileriffic.

Guest reviewer: He cannot do shadow clone training now, I never ruled it out for the future. And despite the extra handicaps put on him, Naruto compensated with his intelligence, he is stronger than his canon counterpart as he can do more than 'shadow clones and rush it'.

Tbh, jutsu learning times is all over the place in canon. The supposed genius uchiha needs a full month to add chidori to his arsenal. And Naruto spends an unknown time learning the basics of rasengan. And then needs a week (+ a cheating method that makes the jutsu MUCH less effective) to just have it stable enough to use.

And frankly, how many canon fights does Naruto fight without Kyuubi getting involved somehow?

Guest reviewer 2: Yes, as an earlier reader noted, it's a bit vague, I will fix that soonish. Although Kushina did not train the Oto team, they all are stronger, Dosu however called himself a winner, and lost his view on the surroundings (And I really needed to make a draw, sue me :P)

RinneBankai: Correct, Naruto will have an episode in the future….

Sadly my readers, today is a single chapter day. Writing invasions is HARD. Tomorrow will most likely be the same


	11. Chapter 11

Upon the signal, Kankuro leapt backwards. Unfurling the white package on his back, revealing his puppet. Zaku quickly raised his arms and shouted "Decapitating Airwaves!" Kankuro jumped left to avoid the wind wave. He send his puppet right. Zaku tried to keep an eye on both, but the puppet suddenly charged. Forcing Zaku to lose sight of Kankuro.

Diving under the multi armed jab, before making a roll to avoid impalement by a hidden wrist knife. Zaku raised his arm, aiming at one of the limbs. But he purposefully hesitated for a second, allowing Kankuro to move his puppet to avoid damaging it.

Zaku rapidly backpedaled away from the puppet, who telegraphed its next attack, aiming two of its arms the same way Zaku did, before suddenly a slot opened and a hail of senbon shot out. Zaku aimed his own arms with open palms. "Decapitating Airwaves!" he countered, blowing away the needles.

The puppet dodged and fired another volley. Which Zaku countered.

The puppets mouth flew open, showing the hidden launcher underneath. Unable to see Kankuro himself, Zaku took it as a signal to get hurt. However getting hit from this distance would look suspicious, so he charged, making it look like he would try to destroy the puppet up close.

The puppet also shot forward, hidden wrist blades popping out of each arm. As the pair closed, the mouth launcher fired, Zaku dodged, but left his legs exposed. Two bites of pain informed him he successfully got himself hurt. 'Damn, seeing yourself getting hurt as a mission, what I do for Oto' he thought wryly to himself.

Soon enough, his vision started to blur, his sense of balance started to feel off, nearly getting himself cut up by a slash from the puppet. Rapidly retreating, he shouted loudly "What did you do to me!". Zaku sincerely hoped Kankuro understood his poison took hold. He would not be able to dodge properly in this state.

He did, the puppet halted its charge. From the tree's on the arena, Kankuro shouted back "You have been poisoned, forfeit!"

Zaku found he put up a convincing display of frustrated anger, before sloughing "I forfeit, give me the antidote" he demanded.

"Winner by forfeit, Kankuro!" Genma declared.

"Don't worry, it's not lethal" Kankuro replied as he revealed himself "You'll be on the toilet for a while though." He walked towards the place he dropped the bandages he used to hide his puppet in, and rewrapped it, taking a long time to do so.

Getting the hint, Zaku charged off the arena, rushing by the medics who came up. He sensed a couple followed him. Rushing into a public stall, he closed the door behind him, and started to make convincing sounds that he was very sick. Meanwhile, he took the vial Kankuro handed to him.

"Are you alright sir?" The medic asked, unable to see him. 'No, I am acting like I am throwing my insides out, of course I am alright.' Zaku thought. Putting up the though ninja act, he slurred out "I will be fine…" He heard the medic sigh "Just remember to drink enough water, but take it slowly!"

As soon the medics where gone, Zaku henged himself. And snuck out, intent to rejoin his team before the invasion kicked off.

* * *

Kage Balcony

While Zaku was putting up an act. The kages discussed their match.

Kushina sighed outwardly, but inwardly she was impressed by both how they improvised the fight without orders and actually did it without spending themselves. "Zaku is not ready to become a chuunin if he plays by the puppeteers rules without trying to break free."

The Hokage nodded his assent "I agree, I am not sure about Kankuro. He did not get the chance to show enough, he did strike me as not decisive enough.

The Kazekage nodded. "I agree" he stated simply, inwardly he was thinking hard. 'Why did Zaku allow himself to be hit by the mouth launcher… wait.. didn't Kankuro mention he would hide his debilitating agent in it today…oh you are getting promoted my boy.' He finished his thoughts with an hidden smile.

* * *

Crowd stands

Ibiki narrowed his eyes as Zaku made his escape. The same feeling of wrongness he had been feeling a lot lately, surfaced once again. He suspect some of his follow ninja also saw the several hesitations through the fight. 'Are they friends?' he asked himself. The interactions between the genin during the first exam and preliminaries would not indicate so. 'The Otokage and Kazekage are quite friendly with each other however.'

'I don't like this, there are too many fishy things going on.' Ibiki rose to his feet, intend to chat with Zaku. 'Can't drag him to T&I, the nonsense it would trigger is to dangerous, especially if they were hesitating because they are friends or some other stupid reason.'

A bear was now on the prowl, the beast sadly smelled its prey to late.

* * *

Arena

"Will Temari of Suna and Nara Shikamaru make their way down here?" Genma asked. Temari leaped out of the alcove, floating down serenely towards her spot thanks to her opened fan. Shikamaru stood, and lazily started to raise his hand.

Naruto saw the action, and realized Shikimaru would declare it to be troublesome and forfeit. 'That he would do that for something as important as this!' he couldn't help but think, even with the knowledge the event would be cancelled soon. 'Still, Sasuke isn't here, time to buy some more time.' He thought with a smirk.

"Show some backbone Shikamaru!" he shouted, before booting the lazy Nara bodily out of the alcove and into the arena. Shikamaru landed face first into he hard ground, but somehow prevented getting himself hurt. Naruto took the subsequent complaints about 'Troublesome blondes' as a jolly good job well done.

The Nara picked himself up, and slowly sloughed his way to his position. Genma, seeing the girl was rearing to go, looked at Shikimaru "Are you ready?" He asked "How troublesome, I don't want to hurt a girl."

Temari's eyebrow started to twitch in anger, Genma, upon seeing this decided to start the match not to get caught in the femine fury. "Very well" he spoke solemnly "Fight!" And with that, he hightailed to the arena edge.

His retreat proved to be right, upon the word 'fight' Temari fully deployed her fan, and with a mighty swing, tried to bisect the Nara, her own plans to stretch out the fight forgotten.

Shikamaru proved to be agile, and ducked under the horizontal cutting wind, before leaping to the closest forested area in the arena. Slashing winds hot on his heels. 'I can destroy these tree's, but that will cost me more chakra than I want to use' she thought.

Her pause gave Shikamaru to think, sinking down into his thinking pose while hidden, he formulated a strategy. Forming an handseal, a shadow shot out. Temari recognizing what happened, jumped backward.

Leaping unto the branch of a tree, he threw the first kunai. Temari dodged, her eyes narrowing as she tried to figure out what the Nara's plan was. She started to slowly circle around, before she had to jump back, his shadow reaching much further this time.

'Did he fake his limit last time?' she asked herself, then she saw thanks to her movement, the shadows of the trees where pointed towards her. 'His shadow can piggyback on other shadows!' Before she could think further, another kunai shot from the foliage, forcing her backwards.

She itched to swing her fan and retaliate, but each kunai came from a different spot, meaning unless she went all out, she would not be able to land a hit. Gritting in her teeth in frustration, she allowed herself to be herded around.

She suddenly saw something in the corner of her eye. 'A parachute! He tries to make a spot for his shadow to extend to. She moved the other way, gaining distance. Thinking she had seen through his plan.

The sudden freezing up told her otherwise.

"How?" she asked shocked. In response, he turned his head, and her turned with it. The parachute she saw earlier was just a part of the plan. His shadow extended from the forest, into the shadows of a few of the thrown kunai, through the shadow of the parachute.. .into the trench Naruto made when he attacked to break Neji's kaiten. The large semi-circular trench was deep enough to cast a shadow inside it.

Temari stood on the other end.

Shikamaru raised his hand, Temari was forced to follow. 'What is he is doing?' the girl thought, panic coming to the front.

"Proctor, I forfeit."

Genma blinked "Winner by forfeit, Temari!"

"Why? You had me!" Temari demanded. "I am nearly out of chakra, and winning would be to troublesome." Temari felt the urge to pummel the lazy Nara. But refrained. She huffed childishly, before walking towards the exit of the arena.

* * *

Kage Balcony

"A very tactical fight, I would suggest you both promote them." Kushina advised. Hiruzen spoke up "I agree with Shikamaru, but Temari, no offense to your daughter Kazekage-dono, just went along."

Kushina shook her head "No, she tried to form counterplan, and did not unleash wanton destruction trying to get her objective, restraint is an important part too, something most genin lack. The Nara, as expected from the clan, just proved superior during this tactical play."

The Kazekage tapped his chin "I will consider it, I will ask if Baki thinks she is ready."

"Would Gaara of Suna and Uchiha Sasuke from Konoha enter the arena?" Genma shouted.

* * *

Once again, Gaara appeared in a storm of sand. But his opponent was nowhere to be seen. The public started to get restless.

Genma glanced at Hiruzen, waiting for the order to disqualify him. He turned to his fellow kages. "Well then, shall I disqualify him?" The Kazekage nodded slowly, seeing no way to delay the match further. Kushina also nodded.

Hiruzen turned back to face Genma, and stood up to announce it himself. Before he could however, a whirlwind of leafs appeared in the arena, and Sasuke and Kakashi appeared. Kakashi eye smiled towards Genma. "Are we on time?" he asked innocently. "Sasuke was seconds away from being disqualified." Kakashi eye smile disappeared, and he looked shocked to the kage balcony. He stared straight into Hiruzen's disapproving eyes, but nearly dropped his book when he saw Kushina.

'Kushina is alive?!' he robotically teleported to his fellow jonin sensei, a feeling of glee entered him 'Perhaps she is here to kill the demon! Getting revenge for her husband, she must have stayed out of sight to get stronger.' He was pulled out of his thoughts by Guy's jabbering. "Hm, did you say something?" He ignored Guy's rant about youth. "Congratulations about Neji's victory" Kakashi spoke. "Neji lost" Guy bit out. Not angry that Neji lost, but that Kakashi just presumed his own student was defeated.

Kakashi looked surprised "He did?" before scowling. 'Must be the demon's power then, I know it trains its mortal shell hard, but without proper guidance he shouldn't be strong enough to beat Neji! But how is this possible without anybody noticing?!'

Down in the arena, Sasuke stood confidently "Prepare to fall to the might of the Uchiha clan" he spoke out of rote. Gaara just looked bored, his arms crossed. 'I just have to fight this weakling for five minutes, then I can go all out against the strongest of this place… yes.. I will feel alive.' He glanced at his siblings 'And I will keep them safe.'

Sasuke gritted his teeth, annoyed at being ignored. "Are you two ready?" Genma asked. "Well then, fight!"

* * *

Outside Konoha's walls

Well hidden between the patrol routes provided by Oto's spies, covenants of summoners waited patiently, a watchmen was keeping an eye on the life feed from the arena, signaled the men to gather their chakra into arrays of seals.

Along the line, the men and woman from Oto and Suna made their final checks, preparing to go into war.

* * *

Sasuke shot forward in response sharingan blazing into life, showing greatly increased speed. His first straight jab was blocked by Gaara's sand defense, Sasuke rapidly side-stepped, jabbing again, this time his blow glanced off Gaara's sand armor. While the third blow was blocked again. Raising an eyebrow in intrest, Gaara released more sand. The extra sand blocking the next flurry of blows.

Getting bored again, Gaara raised an arm, sand flowing further out of the gourd. "Suna Shuriken" he intoned, the sand rapidly shaping into shuriken, before launching themselves at Sasuke, who ducked under first wave, leapt over the second before backpedaling further. Thanks to his bloodline, easily predicating the paths of the projectiles.

Sasuke scowled, despite avoiding any damage himself, he had yet to land a blow. His pride was getting hurt. Gently tapping into the cursed seal, he felt extra power flow through him.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, he faintly felt the cursed seal power, but he didn't see the telltale dark chakra. Anko felt it too, and she started to feel her own seal, hissing all the while. Kakashi considered interfering, but with the Hokage displeased by his lateness, he did not want to ruin Sasuke's chances to become chuunin. Gemna seemed not to notice.

With increased speed and vigor, Sasuke charged forward again, once again landing blows through Gaara's mobile sand defense. But none of the damage truly stuck, and soon Sasuke sported a bloody gash on his arm when a sand shuriken managed to nick him. Despite the warning from his eyes, he couldn't move away quickly enough.

Growling in frustration, but unable to draw more power on the mark lest it becomes visible, he decided to pull out his ace. Getting distance from Gaara, he was glad the deranged boy stayed on the spot. 'Like a loyal puppy waiting to be kicked' Sasuke thought cruelly, as he started the twelve handseals.

"Chidori!" he exclaimed, lightning chirping like a thousand birds. Putting his remaining power into his legs, Sasuke shot forward, Chidori charged hand hanging low, cutting a shallow trench.

Despite what the outside world thought, Gaara had learned a lesson from fighting Lee, it is one thing feeling alive fighting a strong opponent, but taking a pummeling is a bad idea, it worries the few people he cared about.

Hence as Sasuke rapidly closed, he pulled apart his gourd, and pulled as his sand into a solid wall in front of him. The moment he was sure he was out of the Uchiha's sight, he started to move out of the way.

Too late however, and a lightning charged jab broke through the wall, cutting into his shoulder. Red liquid started to gush from the wound. Gaara looked horrified at it "My blood" he managed to exclaim, looking back at the wall. Frowning, he pushed the entire structure away from him with his chakra. A loud thud indicating he succeeded in pushing away the Uchiha, as the sand re-gather around him, he locked eyes with his sister and brother.

He saw unabashed worry in both their eyes, and his anger surged, an insane glint appearing in Gaara's eyes. "You…" words failed him"… DIE!" the boy raged, tapping into Shukaku's chakra.

Kushina cursed inwardly, fervently hoping at least the eyes would survive the mauling from the enraged Jinchūriki. She glanced at Shinkuro, whose hand was resting on the arm of the chair, one finger extended.

Sasuke, who initially beamed his superiority, was now forced to run for his life. The angered Gaara launched one sharp sand projectile after the other. It was clear for everyone present the very earth Gaara stood on was grinded into sand by chakra alone, fueling the barrage.

Kushina, realizing that Gaara might be to enraged to notice the starting signal, discreetly dropped some explosive tags under her seat. When Shinkuro pulled in his last finger, both leaped upward, Shinkuro using his hand to drag a surprised Hiruzen by the scruff of his neck.

The rest of the public saw the kage balcony suddenly be covered in smoke, moments later, it violently exploded.

AN: I have written 10 chapters, I just found out I never really thought about what Kakashi thought about Naruto aside from hating him ^^;

Sorry for the short Gaara/Sasuke fight, but with Gaara fighting smarter, I had to end it quickly otherwise Gaara would turn Sasuke in a squished tomato. Atleast we found Gaara's berserk button, yep, he can still be lovably insane.

Blooper I made… I completely wrote a draft of this chapter, and started on the next one. Only to realize I completely forgot about Sasuke's sharingan.

Adam02: Average.. well at least you're not disappointed. Naruto's chains are far too fragile for now to use for defense. The second part, sorry, not spoillering.

Tormound: Shiver me timbers, I didn't. Euh.. oops?

Von Kreuz: Honestly, those where my thoughts after proofreading the fight.

Ryperiour2: Heavens no, Kushina already said destroying a village in one go is impossible.

Homarid& ncpfan : Glad the fight was believable and good. I was pretty nervous about it.

Vanex: Good advice, thanks. Il be using it to purposefully ignore characters, those with too minor roles will 'recollect' their actions later. That way I can focus on the important folks.

BigBossVince: Shiver me timbers… twice! Thanks, I would have never realized I was doing it wrong if you didn't point it out.

Wyrtha: Kakashi is sadly more frustrated than shocked. And yes, I am portraying Hiruzen as quite old and dull, it gets worse for the man however.

The writing of the invasion goes so-so. But I cannot promise you a double chapter tomorrow. And if it's a single chapter, it will come late that day.

Lastly, I want to give a loud shout out to npcfan. For his (or her, going to be chauvinistic here) help with forming the basis for the romance parts for this story, making me order my thoughts for the post-invasion events and tossing me some very good ideas in my direction. He has some stories to, so check ehm out!


	12. Chapter 12

Hiruzen didn't become Hokage for his good looks, after a moment of confusion, he shook himself free, quickly jumping away from Shinkiro. Before he could look for an escape however, a large purple barrier surrounded the trio. Powered by the sound four, who went into the first state of the cursed seal, black markings spreading all over their body.

"Betraying your allies Shinkiro?" he demanded. "Don't act Innocent Hiruzen" Shinkiro replied coolly "You truly thought we would not find out about you bribing away Suna's missions?"

Hiruzen turned towards Kushina "And why are you attacking me?"

Kushina shrugged like it was a minor matter. "Betraying the whirlpool, allowing Danzo to reveal Naruto is a container, allowing my boy to be mistreated. Orochimaru had his own list of issues, but I am not going to name him. Although a special mention goes to your treatment of Anko, you like making scapegoats do you?"

Hiruzen could only sigh, now knowing there was no avoiding this conflict. He threw off his official Hokage garbs, revealing he was wearing battle armor underneath. "My old instincts where right, something would happen today."

He took a battle stance "The time for talk is over" he said sternly. Kushina lay a hand on Shinkiro's shoulder. "Good luck", the man merely nodded, and dropped two sealing scrolls on the ground, who unfurled and then released prodigious amounts of gold dust. Kushina dashed away, as she approached the barrier, she pulled a seal, the word 'Gate' prominently present. The seal touched the barrier, and a large hole appeared in both barriers, she smiled wickedly at the flabbergasted ANBU standing on the other side.

* * *

On Top of a spire overlooking the arena.

Kabuto had a magnificent view as Kushina and Shinkiro scooped up Hiruzen and cleared the balcony. Undisturbed by the explosion, he finished the last handsigns. "Temple of Nirvana." He spoke quietly, as feathers started to fall. He then set off on his own mission.

* * *

Arena

The explosion shook Gaara out of his enraged state, and reminded him of his mission. Sending a large unfocused blob of sand towards the distracted Uchiha to keep him away, he quickly ran over to his siblings, who jumped down from the alcove and made their way to them. The pain from his shoulder preventing him from getting caught in the genjutsu.

"Gaara!" Temari shouted, resisting the genjutsu that started to fall. Kankuro faltered a step, before recovering. "Sorry" Gaara apologized "I did not…" he started before a hug silenced him "It's alright, let's go. I'll look at it as soon we arrive at the target location."

Gemna, who was confused what the hell was going on, decided to stop the trio. "Stop, where are you going!" he demanded. But before he could do more, Baki appeared between them. "Go, do your mission." He commanded, before locking blades with Genma.

Sasuke dug himself out, caught off-guard by the huge blob of sand, nearly burying him alive. He looked confused at the fights breaking out around him.

Genma saw the boy as he clashed again with Baki "Sasuke, go proof that you are a chuunin, follow Gaara and stop whatever they are planning!"

Roles reversed, it was now Genma that intercepted Baki, who tried to score a quick kill on the last Uchiha.

"Go!"

Sasuke dashed off.

* * *

The moment the explosive tags went off, the hidden Suna and Oto ninja revealed themselves, slashing left and right, scoring many casualties in the surprise. Konoha's famous teamwork however quickly recovered and started pushing back, spearheaded by powerful combinations like Kakashi and Guy.

Naruto, who was caught off-guard by the genjutsu finally completely shook himself out of it. Getting re-aware of his environment, he only saw a snoring Shikamaru. Gazing to the arena that was slowly turning into a battlefield, he spotted a certain duckbutt haired boy giving chase to somebody.

Figuring he was after Gaara, Naruto gave chase himself.

Kakashi, momentarily not distracted, saw both boys give chase, and cursed. 'I can't trust Naruto to keep Sasuke safe, despite his surprising strength.' He glanced around, spotting Sakura looking lost and Kiba unengaged. Quickly summoning Pakkun, he called the two over.

"Sakura, Kiba. Sasuke and Naruto gave chase to Gaara. Gaara is planning something, go after them and back them up." He ordered. Kakashi wished team Asuma or Guy where around, but both broken teams teamed up with other genin upon the orders of other chuunin or jonin, and send on their own missions.

Pakkun, Kiba, Akamaru and Sakura carefully jumped off the stands into the arena, staying near the edge as more experienced fighters clashed in the center. Pakkun sniffed "Tomatoes and fox, I got them." He spoke confidently. Kiba and Akamaru sniffed too, agreeing.

The group followed the tracks, the fighting hadn't started outside the arena yet. But Pakkun, with his experience and advanced senses knew it would happen soon. And quickly led the genin and dog after Sasuke and Naruto.

* * *

Jiraya sighed as he disappointedly gazed through his telescope, the hot spring he was peeking on was quite empty.

'I don't understand why sensei needed me here.' Jiraya thought 'This is the third hot spring that is empty.' Collapsing his telescope, he hoped the next hot spring he had more luck 'I don't understand what he worries about, aside from suddenly attacking the Uchiha, Oro-teme has been silent for quite a while now. He might have helped build Oto, but the current unknown leader is far too kind to his subordinates.'

A sudden explosion from the arena shock Jiraya out of his thoughts. 'Wonder what kind of genin could..' he started to think, before his thoughts where interrupted by the alarm bells from the walls. His confusion grew when he heard the familiar sound of war from the arena.

Stuck between deciding to rush over to the arena, or find out the disturbance was at the walls. Jiraya stood undecided for a second, before a loud crashing noise made the choice for him.

* * *

With a final burst of chakra, the cabal of summoners completed their task. And in huge puffs of smoke. A gigantic two headed snake appeared, easily towering over the great wall Konoha. Flanking the massive beast where two large 'normal' snakes. With a roar, the snakes charges forward.

Below in the shadows of the beasts, the assembled forces shot forward, most rushing towards the gates. Others kill teams rushed out towards the most likely location of nearby patrols. Several teams followed behind the large snakes more sedately, letting the normal forces take the brunt of the damage, they had specific targets to kill. Most of these teams where from Oto.

The snakes sudden appearance alerted the guards upon the gate. Who quickly sounded the alarm. Before they could do anything more, the leading two headed snake bodily slammed through the wall. Spraying debris all over the buildings behind it. The other two snakes slithered over the wall, cracking the wall under their weight.

Konoha ninja on the walls and behind them instantly started to pepper the large beasts with projectiles and jutsu. But their thick scales shrugged them off. Soon after, they also had to contend with the invading force. Who followed the snakes through the breach.

Ibiki, who was trying to track Zaku, after nearly losing him thanks to the henge took command, cursing in his head all the while. 'I knew it, Kabuto, Zaku… only question is if Naruto was involved, Hokage protection be damned, I am going to get some one on one time in my playroom with the boy.' He thought bitterly. He hated it when he didn't get the truth on time.

Thanks to Ibiki's leadership, the Suna/Oto troops where slowed down, but nothing Ibiki or his men could do would hinder the snakes. Until suddenly a giant red toad wearing a black kimono, wielding a sasumata in one, and a light yellow shield in the other, appeared in the sky above on of the giant snakes, crushing it under the toads weight.

Ibiki sensed Jiraya land next to him "Jiraya-sama, you are just on time." Ibiki said. "No, I am not" Jiraya replied grimly, his face stern while he pointed to a concentration of ninja making their way past the ruined entrance. "Gamaken, take care of the other snakes." He shouted. "I will, although I am very ungraceful" the toad replied. Stomping forward to the remaining single headed snake, who coiled up, and shot forward. 'Snakes.. so he is involved.. I was wrong' Jiraya thought.

Gamaken blocked the snake with his shield, handily diverting it to the side, overstretched, the snake couldn't move in time as Gamaken used his sasumata as a large club, strike the snake with the pointy prongs. Dispelling it.

The two headed snake watched this, and slithered slow circles around Gamaken, crushing buildings as it went, who recovered his stance, shield forward, sasumata pointed as a spear. The two large summon watched each other wearily. Suddenly, the left head shot forward like a lightning strike, fangs poised, Gamaken moved his shield accordingly, and blocked the strike, ground shuddering under the combined impact.

Attempting to counter with his sasumata, Gamaken was forced to abort his strike, lest he kept himself open for the right head, who poised to bite his weapon arm off.

As the two enormous summons did battle, the Konoha forces used the created no-go area to recover. However the Suna/Oto forces where not interested dueling their counterparts, and flowed around the battle area, into Konoha proper to complete their missions.

Jiraya cursed 'Why did I not see this coming, where is Oro-teme?' he asked himself. "Spread out, stop them from completing whatever missions they have." Ibiki added "Be careful, there will be infiltration teams present!"

* * *

As Kushina cleared the barriers, which closed up behind her, she launched several snakes with her right hand, while her left palm shot a multitude of wickedly spiked chains. Who like the snakes from her other hand wrapped themselves around the ANBU, the spikes cutting and burning into them, causing them to scream in agony as they bled to death.

The few ANBU who managed to survive the onslaught leapt forward, drawing blades as they went. Kushina broke free her left hand, her chains going up into flames as she disconnected them from her, and hovered behind her lower back. A hidden seal glowed, and Kushina revealed the Kusanagi. Blocking the first strike while bending away from the second, she used her swords sharpness to cut through the tanto the ANBU was using, the blade digging deep into the ANBU's chest.

Pulling free, Kushina released the snakes on her right hand, and quickly jabbed the second ANBU in the chest, unbalancing him until she could right herself, and with a mighty swing, cut the ANBU from shoulder to hip. The last ANBU, seeing his comrades quick demise, hopped back and started to make handseals, finishing in a tora seal.

Fire belched forward, and in response Kushina raised her right palm, a multiple bundled chains shot forward towards the fireball, blossoming into an hallow sphere around the offending ANBU, blocking his attack and enveloping him, the sphere suddenly compressed, blood spurting out between he spikes.

Quickly moving on the next part of the plan, Kushina resealed the blade. And knelt down to carefully ripped off three lengths from her dress. She lay the three pieces down, revealing they were large sealing tags, and with a burst of chakra, two coffins appeared and a set of kunai. With a quick push, both lids came free, revealing they were empty, but wood edged with sealing formulas.

Kushina walked over to the ANBU she had stricken with snakes, and was pleased multiple ANBU where alive but paralyzed by venom. She picked up two, and tossed them carelessly into the coffins. She closed the lids and started to make handseal. At the end, she clapped her hand, and put each hand on top of a coffin while intoning "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei"

Screams where heard from the coffins, but the soon ended in a pained gurgle. Kushina meanwhile calmly walked towards the kunai, double checking the seals wrapped around them. Both lids suddenly exploded away, and two people rose, their bodies cracked, eyes blank.

Before they could do anything, Kushina rammed a kunai in each head, which sank deeper into them. Both men turned like puppets. Revealing themselves to be Senju Hashirama and his brother Tobirama. Both looked disapprovingly towards Kushina, while just smiled slightly that her technique was a success.

She initially planned to also use her _dear _husband too. But upon experimenting to reincarnate him in the lab to severely torture him, she failed. Kabuto later theorized he was not in the pure world, but in truly in the shinigami's stomach, and thus could not be revived.

Kushina knew there was a way to free him, but she needed the location of the Uzumaki Shinigami temple, which she was never told despite being her clans property. Her other experiments showed the dead subjects could talk, something she saw as an undesirable trait, so she modified Orochimaru's original tags with her Uzumaki seal brilliance, making them both more powerful, and permanently shutting them up if she wished so.

'Glad I did that' she thought, looking at the disapproving looks she received from the first and second Hokage. 'Both of them probably would have complained their heads off, I am ordering to destroy their own hard work.'

"Hashirama, destroy the Akimichi compound and the emergency food storages, kill any Konoha ninja along the way. Tobirama, flood the Nara deer ranch and then destroy all the medical supply reserves they have."

Both kages dashed off. As they disappeared, she heard a surprised "Kushina?"

* * *

Gaara, Temari and Kankuro ran into the warehouse. The sounds of war dimmed as the trio moved in further. As planned, the warehouse was empty, and the floor was broken up, allowing Gaara direct access to the earth.

"Gaara stop" Temari ordered. "Kankuro, hand me the bandages you use to hide your puppet." Kankuro raised an eyebrow "Those aren't clean" She shot him a glare. "Do you want Gaara to bleed to death then?" Kankuro shook his head and unwrapped his puppet again, handing Temari the bandages. While Kankuro was unwrapping his puppet, she had quickly inspected the wound, it was very shallow, but the glancing nature lighting attack had broken a lot of skin, causing it bleed profusely.

Temari carefully bound the wound, staunching the bleeding. She finished, and gave her youngest brother a quick hug, who started to fidget for worrying his siblings.

The wall suddenly exploded inwardly, and out of the smoke walked Sasuke, arrogant smirk present. "Here you are weaklings, prepare to feel the might of the Uchiha clan!" he declared proudly, black wisps of chakra emerging from the seal. Gaara stepped forward to fight him.

"No Gaara, prepare to transform, we will handle him." Temari ordered, she and her brother stood in front of Gaara, fan and puppet at the ready.

Gaara hesitantly walked to the broken up floor, sank into a lotus position and started to draw upon Shukaku's chakra and pushed it into the soil below. Grinding it into fine sand, charged with the beasts chakra.

Sasuke, wishing to finish the fight with Gaara, convinced he could turn the tables of the fight before the explosion happened, charged forward, sharingan blazing. His eyes easily predicted the slashing wind Temari shot his way with her fan. Before dodging a multitude of senbon from the puppets mouth.

Sasuke, quickly going through the handseals, puffed up his chest and belched fire with a cry of "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" towards the puppet, forcing Temari to halt her attacks lest the strengthens the flames. Kankuro pulled his puppet back hard, barely dodging the flames. The fireball flew on unimpeded, and struck the roof, setting it alight.

Both Kankuro and Temari retreated away from the burning roof towards their brother. Temari unsure if using her wind jutsu would worsen the fire. Kankuro busy trying to figure out how the fire would spread, and how he would keep his puppet safe.

Sasuke laughed, interpreting their retreat and hesitation as a victory. "Hahaha, see that weaklings, you don't stand a chance against me, now out of the way. I want to fight Gaara!"

Kankuro gritted his teeth, thinking Gaara needed more time. "I say screw the order Temari, just kill the guy." He spoke in soft tones. Temari grimaced, not a fan of breaking orders, but seeing no other option. As the pair prepared to attack, their brothers voice, deeper than normal, spoke up.

"Temari, Kankuro, move. I am ready."

AN: Its invasion time, and I will invade with double chapters during it!

I hope despite all the scene switching, you have a decent idea what is actually happening. If it's too confusing, I blame war, war is confusion, sue Khorne. (internet cookie for who gets it)

I know it where just 3 normal oversized snakes in the original invasion, but I wanted to try a write a decent summon battle. So I needed a 'flagship' kind of summon. (I also changed the toad for that reason)

Honestly, the Suna trio, Sasuke and Naruto fight was supposed to go waaay different, yet this is what came out, muses are a funny thing.

kage88: Kage, you should know by now I aint spoillering such things. Just tease you mercilessly, after all, Naruto has so many pretty ladies to go around in Oto…. Who knows what he will do~

Von Kreuz: I suppose I was a bit blunt with that foreshadowing. Or everybody caught the others and kept a silent and smug about it.

Guest reviewer: I am taking a different path.

Dregus: As you can see, there is some edo-tensei action. How Hiruzen meets his end… well, I know, you don't ;) Perhaps he'll survive the invasion!

Wyrtha: Nope, he is still there. I needed him there, why? Well read that in the coming chapters ;) The initial attack is more powerful in my story. And instead of rampaging snakes, we got a toad and snake duel it out. Yes,Konoha will have suddenly room for some parks when the invasion is over /tease.


	13. Chapter 13

Temari and Kankuro looked over their shoulder to their brother, the dark rings around his eyes far deeper. His light green eyes now yellow. The older brother and sister shared a glance, nodded at each other. And ran past Gaara.

"Are you ready to fall?" Sasuke asked arrogantly. Gaara smiled back evilly, a massive sand construct started to form under him, slowly raising him upwards. Soon Sasuke stood face to face with Shukaku, the beasts toothy maw mimicking Gaara's grin, who stood on top of the head, his legs buried into the head.

Sasuke, for all his bravado, took a step back under the beasts glare. And as Shukaku rose further, he started to realize he was out of his depth, no matter how much he hated it. Sand started to whirl around him, threating to bury him alive. He dug deeply into the curse mark, his eyes burning by the amount of chakra rushing through him.

Using the extra power, he bull rushes his way through the sand, running back out of the hole he made into the warehouse. Turning around, he sees Shukaku's form bursting out of the warehouse. Towering more and more above him.

Sasuke, since a long time felt inferior again. 'I…I…I can't beat that thing!' he thought panicky, even during his loss against Haku he felt he could win, he could sense the power of the tailed beast and it towered mightily above him. Involuntarily, he remembers his brother doing the same, before using his eyes to make Sasuke see the entire clan slaughtered. Panic set in further at those memories, and Sasuke turned around, running away as fast as he could

Gaara, from his rising vantage point, saw Sasuke run away. He launched several attacks, but the Uchiha managed to dodge despite his panicked flight. Sure that his siblings are save, he starts to lumber to the industry districts, intent to complete the mission Kushina had given him.

He would not admit it out loud, but he respected that woman for her strength, and showing him the path to obtain the same. He did not want to fail her.

Pakkun sniffed the ground, Kiba and Akamaru following his example. "They split up here" Pakkun spoke gruffly. "Let's follow Sasuke-kun, Naruto will be fine" Sakura spoke instantly, without thinking about it. Pakkun hesitated. Kiba spoke up "I agree, the lo… Naruto will be fine." 'I hope he gets himself killed.' Kiba thought. Pakkun nodded his assent, and quickly tracked the tomato scent.

The group suddenly saw Sasuke burst out of a hole in the wall. Soon after a massive sandy head emerged from the building he fled. Kiba, Akamaru and Pakkun looked agape at the rising form. Sasuke near its feet. Sakura froze in fear, unable to comprehend the power.

Suddenly, Sasuke dashed away from both the beast and the group. They saw multiple sand projectiles bombard the area Sasuke fled to. Shaking himself out of stupor, and the gigantic raccoon dog started to march towards them, Pakkun spoke up. "We need to go! It's going to crush us!" Matching action with word, he leapt into an alley, making sure he was in cover should the beast decide to bombard them.

Kiba blinked, and followed the veteran dogs lead. Akamaru right behind them. They made it to the other side of the alley before realizing they were forgetting someone.

Kiba looked back, and only saw his trusty partner. "Damn, Sakura!" he exclaimed. Pakkun also stopped. "We need to get her!" They ran back, the massive Shukaku form , paired with the sounds of destroyed buildings loomed ever closer.

They nearly made it to the alley, when they saw a massive shadow move over Sakura.

Sakura looked frozen, the power Shukaku emitted freezing her as effectively as Shikamaru's shadow bind jutsu. She saw the massive foot of the uncaring beast descend towards her, but her muscles ignored her frantic mind.

'Sasuke-kun.. Naruto… save me!' she thought desperately, tears springing forth as she did.

Naruto bit back a curse as he saw Shukaku's form emerge from the skyline. He took a wrong turn, and now he had to backtrack quickly, and find one of the non-transformed sand siblings to find out what he had to trash.

He knew he had a time limit, Gaara's massive appearance would attract Konoha nin like flies to sirup. As he closed the massive beast, he suddenly had to dodge a hail of sand projectiles. This time Naruto did curse. 'From bloody Gaara's point of view I am just another speck of dirt dammit. Where is the damn fan-girl or cat-boy' Naruto thought angrily.

Luckily, after a large leap to prevent a massive ball of dirt crushing him, he saw Temari's large metal fan glint. She was trailing the Shukaku's massive form from the rear, where most wild sand attacks did not land.

"Temari!" Naruto shouted despite the risks. The girl gripped her fan, ready to unleash hell on him, before slightly relaxing when she identified him. "Naruto" she spoke evenly. "So, what do I attack?" Naruto asked impatiently, wanting to get out of the 'Shukaku destruction zone' as soon as he could.

"Kushina-sama wants you to target the water aquifer and power station. Any shelters you can hit along the way is secondary. As far Konoha is concerned you are still a loyal ninja, so try to destroy those targets discreetly. Oto forces are aware you are with us, but only the Suna jonin know, so retreat if you run into a squad with only chuunin in it." Temari recited. "Suna jonin will only recognize you if you use Kyuubi's chakra however" she finished with a frown.

Naruto frowned 'Either mom has a lot of faith in me, or the amount of suna troops in town is less than I thought…' Temari interrupted his musings. She opened her fan, hiding her face from view while she leant towards his ear. "The Oto fallback point is North-East. The Suna one North-West. Challenge is 'Where does the sound prosper?', the answer is 'Where the sand is solid' Red flares will be the general retreat signal." She whispered into his ear. She stopped leaning forward, closing her fan.

"Incoming!" Naruto shouted suddenly, and both leapt away, avoiding a bjuu sized senbon, which crashed into the building they were standing on. "Any questions?" Temari shouted over the sounds of destruction. Naruto shook his head, and darted off.

Gamaken used his shield as a battering ram, stunning one of the heads. He followed up with a large horizontal swing, but the snakes tail rapidly wrapped itself around a building that remained standing, and used it as levarge to pull itself away. The other head clearly in command.

The area next to the great wall the summons where fighting was nearly completely flattened, a few buildings standing more by luck than their inherent sturdiness. Around the edges of their 'arena' a few remaining Konoha and Suna/Oto forces fought.

"Gamaken!" Jiraya shouted as he jumped into the toads head. Done playing with the invading forces down below. 'I need to find Oro-teme, I don't have time to play with his minions.' Jiraya, thought with a scowl. "Let's get ourselves some fried snake."

"It will be very ungraceful, but I will do my best" the toad replied, before inflating. The snake, unsure what was going to happen, started to circle the toad. The toad deflated, spitting a stream of oil towards the snake, the snake recoiled to late, oil splattered over its skin. With a fireball, Jiraya ignited the oil, burning the snake which started to screech and trash.

His mobile opponent finally pinned down, Gamaken kept spitting burning oil all over the snake. And soon it laid still, the scent of burned flesh wafting off the corpse. Jiraya grinned victoriously, until a loud crashing noise brought him back to earth, turning around on the toads head, he saw the form of the Ichibi arise.

He felt Gamaken gaze upon him, answering the unspoken question "You did well 'Ken, go back and tell 'Bunta to get ready". Jiraya hopped off and a giant puff of smoke indicated Gamaken's departure, he didn't want to summon Gamabunta here, that would cause the fight to gravitate towards the center of the village, and between Gamakens fight and the damage Ichibi would unleash. Jiraya figured Konoha had already taken too much damage.

'I need to hurry up and get between the Ichibi and the walls, 'Bunta should be able to lure him out of Konoha, he is going to complain however…' Jiraya mused as he ran into town. He saw a trio of Oto-nin jump in front of him, palms raised. His mind noted the tubes in their palms. Realizing he was running into a ranged attack, he quickly leapt aside.

He was correct, the three nin shouted "Decapitating airwaves" in sync, and a massive air blast barreled through the street, gauging a deep trench into the ground. Before Jiraya could land, two nin's leapt from the side of the building, devices on both their forearms. "Hari Jizō" Jiraya shouted, his hair wrapping around him, his spikes bristling outwards. Both man swiped their devices past the outer spikes, cutting grooves on the smooth metal of their devices.

Jiraya felt something shock through his hair, and felt disorientated. Realizing the devices where responsible, he quickly snapped his head from left to right, his extended mane slapping around him as a wild whip, knocking the man away into the building.

He tried to capitalize with a rasengan, but airwave launch squad shot pressured air shots, forcing him away. Jiraya frowned 'These guys are a bit too well informed about me' he thought as he dodged the next set of ranged attacks. 'I don't have time for these guys, I need to stop Ichibi!'

Two handseals later, he slapped his hands on the ground "Doton: Yomi Numa!" He heard curses as one of the airwave men shouted the properties of the attack, but it was too late. Only the said leader managed to get clear, the other 4 man quickly sinking into the marsh Jiraya had created.

Jiraya wasted no time leaping away towards the rampaging Ichibi. 'They knew the jutsu' Jiraya thought with narrowed eyes. 'Oro-teme sent a kill squad after me? That... is not his style'

Kurenai could not believe what her mother figure did, she killed an Konoha ANBU squad, and somehow revived the first two Hokages, as they sped away, she couldn't help but shout her name in disbelief.

"Ah, Kurenai-chan" Kushina spoke coldly "I am disappointed at you."

Despite the situation, she couldn't help but let out a offended "What? Why?"

"I looked after you when your mother died, but you didn't even look at my son without hatred." Kushina spoke. Kurenai frowned "You have a son?" Kushina couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I was the only Uzumaki in town Kurenai, and suddenly there is an Uzumaki Naruto.. I remember you being smarter than that."

"But.. but he is the fox, the fox that killed my father!" Kurenai protested, her calm slipping. Kushina suddenly appeared before her, crossing the distance in a blink of an eye. Kurenai suddenly felt cold metal enter just below her stomach. "He is the third container of the Kyuubi Kurenai" Kushina spoke frigidly "I was the second" Kushina wrenched the kunai inside Kurenai to side, tearing her open further, before taking a step back, kicking her towards the arena down below.

"Kurenai!" Another female voice shouted. Kushina turned towards the woman, and a small smile made its way on her face. "Hello Anko-chan."

Unbeknownst to the two woman, Asuma escorting the nobles below, saw Kurenai's falling body, and moved to safe her.

Anko ignored Kushina, and stormed forward. "Sen'eijashu" she shouted, launching a pair of snakes from her left sleeve. Kushina calmly raised her right hand, wordlessly launching a group of snakes herself. The animals entwined and dispelled each other. With her other hand, Kushina formed an halfseal.

Anko collapsed screaming as her curse mark pulsed. "…How" she croaked. "How? I was trained my Orochimaru" Kushina replied calmly. "D..damn you" Kushina could only shake her head. "Why do you hate Naruto." She asked instead. "Why?.." Kushina formed the half sign again, increasing the pain.

"Answer me" she spoke coldly.

".. The elders want me to bear his children.. they think that will result in bloodline babies, that's according to some old myths about the origins of bloodlines" Anko gritted out through the pain. Kushina blinked "Well.. that's stupid" she said plainly "Naru-chan doesn't have any new bloodlines aside from mine."

Anko looked up confusedly, before connecting the dots "He is your son?" Kushina nodded "He is. Sorry about using the prototype against you like that, I had to be sure you did not hate him for a stupid reason." Anko looked even more confused "Prototype?..." she trailed.

"Ah.. let me fix that for you." Kushina walked towards the face down woman. Tugging the trench coat further away while gently sending chakra across the skin. "Now if I was a memory locking seal.. where would I hide…" she mumbled to herself, but loud enough for Anko to hear, who froze up. 'Memory locking seal?' she asked herself.

"Base of the skull" Kushina suddenly said, her hands glowing with chakra now. "Brace yourself Anko-chan, this will hurt, And with that, she jabbed into the hidden seal."

Flashback

"Why would sensei attack the lab?" Orochimaru asked aloud as the base rumbled again. The traps Orochimaru placed around to halt invaders triggering. "It does not matter, we need to go Anko" he ordered. The young girl nodded "Hai Sensei"

The pair ran towards one of the hidden exits, Orochimaru as always, making sure he had an escape strategy no matter the situation. They were to slow however, and a group of ANBU appeared behind them. "He is here!" one of them shouted loudly.

Anko stopped and turned around, activating her seal. Black markings started to spread around her body, increasing her power. "Anko no!" Orochimaru shouted "The prototype is not ready yet!" Anko turned her head smiled back Orochimaru "I trust your work Sensei, go!" She thought she saw a quick display of emotions on the usually stern face. "Very well" he said, before turning around and leaving.

Anko shot forward, surprising the ANBU, knocking the first one away with surprise. She fought like a cornered lion. But the sudden appearance of the Third Hokage put a stop to it, and with a single swipe of his staff knocked the girl out.

From there she had vague memories about interrogation, mind invasions and finally the decision to alter and seal her memories. Then she remembered the subsequent lies she was told, how she was abandoned, how the unfinished prototype on her neck was going to kill her and so on.

Flash back ends.

Despite the pain of the sudden release of the seal, she growled out "We did those experiments on Hiruzen's order.. why?" she shook her head "I am going to kill him." She stated firmly.

"Sorry Anko-chan, but he is mine if Shinkiro-kun doesn't get him" Anko growled. "But you can kill those two elders who wanted you to be a baby factory." Kushina continued with a bloodthirsty smile, one Anko returned. "They'll do" Without further ado, she charged off.

Kushina was pleased with herself, although she held no warm emotions for the snake that was her teacher, Anko was as much betrayed as she was, and deserved the same release. He happiness faded however as she realized she spent too much time on the rooftop. Shinkiro and Hiruzen where clashing within the barrier.

She quickly leapt down towards the stands Danzo was seated, her most important objective, next to the retrieval of Naruto. The fights around the arena where dying down by the lack of living participants, but she absentmindly killed a Leaf chuunin who tried to attack her as she walked to the seat Danzo sat.

Summoning two snakes, she ordered "Find me the one stinking of age, bandages and wood." Tongues flicked around the seats. "We got a ssscent missstresss" one snake hissed.

"Good, lead me to him" she demanded.

AN: Reaaallly unhappy about the Anko part, but I couldn't do better despite a re-write (first one was even worse imho)

Sakura went squish! I know it might not be the long, drawn out, bloody torture some of you were (probably) hoping, but I do find her death very fitting for the Sakura I made. I hope some of you managed to catch the 'symbolism' I tried to build.

Gaara is not targeting them on purpose, he is just hitting everything he can. He does not know his siblings are there.

Von Kreuz: Don't deny it mind reader, YOU KNEW! You just tried to cleverly hide it, but you won't fool me, no sir, you won! Also, my mark is different, so who knows what happens~ (I do.. no damn you, now you read my mind!)

Namikaze: Unless I missed it in canon, I believe the entire 'Uzumaki reinforced Konoha's walls with seals.' Thing is a fanon 'fact'.

Dregus: Perhaps she will, perhaps she will not. (Mwhahahaha)

Guest reviewer: Another mind reader! Cleverly hiding it in 'speculation' I figured you sort out now. *Tinfoil hat* Good to hear it wasn't too confusing.

ChibakuNaruto: Nope, Minato is still being digested in the Shinigami's stomach, what made you think he returned?

Ncpfan: Heh, knew I shoulda switched the sandsibling/Kushina action. The latter made a way better cliffhanger.


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto peeked around the corner. The Konoha aquifer was a large reinforced structure. Great water storage tanks on top of the building. Naruto frowned, it was clear the place was being used as a staging point. 'I should not be surprised, it is an important structure…'

Doubt began to set in 'Does that woman really think I can destroy this alone? I can't turn huge like Gaara does. I just need to trust Kyuubi's power.' He frowned further. 'I am trusting myself to the fox a lot lately.'

Shaking off his thoughts, he walked up into the entrance. The squad of ninja frowned. He raised his hands in surrender. The group quickly exchanged glances, before one of them wearily made his way towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder and sending a pulse of chakra through Naruto, confirming he was not henged.

The man scowled "Shouldn't you be fighting your fellow demon over there." He said snidely, waving roughly where Shukaku was trashing the village. "I will" Naruto replied calmly "As soon as the rest of the squad is here."

"Rest of the squad?" The man asked dubious. Naruto rolled his eyes, mimicking expesration "To hunt demons, you make demons." He replied cryptically, brushing past the men into the building. Inside the halls where more Konoha ninja, some wounded, some regrouping and rearming. Naruto walked all past into the pump area. He saw no noticeable weakspots, and there were a few ninja around.

He walked through an emergency exit, emerging outside to a tiny courtyard. Quickly glancing around, he realized he had cut straight through the building. Scanning the area, he saw no-one. He gulped. 'It is now or never'

Naruto started to pull Kyuubi's chakra. **Is it time** the beast demanded impatiently. He might not like Naruto, but he disliked Konoha a whole lot more, the idea of aiding in it destruction, even indirectly made it quite a happy fox. 'Yes, it is.'

Power exploded from Naruto, a red cloak of chakra quickly wrapping around him. One tail sprouted from his back, long, pointy rabbit red chakra ears formed on Naruto's head, his whiskers marks on his face thickened, canines formed in his mouth. A second tail joined the first, more power came into the ear. Naruto started to form handseals, slowly and deliberately. A shout of "Traitor" did not stop him. The last handseal, formed, wind compressing into a visible into a sphere in front of him, tainted slightly red. The third tail sprouted. Something bounced off his chakra cloak.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

Naruto lack of control over the jutsu, further compounded by super-charging it with Kyuubi's chakra meant that instead of a controlled powerful gust, it exploded barely controlled into the building. The overpressure slamming through the thick walls, the wind and the debris destroying the machinery inside. The fighting men and women inside crushed by debris or pressure alike. Vital supporting walls gone, the massive water tanks on top of the buildings crashed down. Water washing away or drowning the survivors.

Naruto backpedaled away from the destruction, aghast by what he just had done. He suddenly felt Kyuubi's chakra claw slash at something, he turned around. Looking straight into the impassive face of Ibiki, but his anger and disgust radiated off him. His eyes promised untold tales of pain.

Naruto fought to control his bowel movement.

* * *

Kushina followed her snake, ignoring the fights around her. She frowned, she realized she was heading towards the Hokage tower, a major assembly point for Konoha's forces. If Danzo made it there, Kushina would be forced to fall back and let the man live.

'Dammit old one eyes bastard, you are not getting away dattabane!' she thought furiously, memories off _that _bubbling to the surface. Kushina crushed them down, and in the distance, saw a bandaged man fiddling with golden bracers.

Ignorant of the few civilians milling around the area, Kushina launched a barrage of chains from her back, the chains arced forward, and slammed into the ground in front of Danzo, impact points going up in blaze, forming a blazing barrier.

Danzo turned around, and from the shadows, two people with black and white masks shot forward to Kushina, drawing tanto's as they approached. Kushina reached for the seal on the back of her dress, revealing the Kusanagi. She made a one handed horizontal swipe, extending the blade as the swipe went. One of the ROOT members attempted the block, but the Kusanagi cut through his tanto, and bit into the men.

The other ROOT used the time it took the Kusanagi to cut through his companion to duck under the attack, and swiped at Kushina. Kushina had raised her other palm, and formed spike less chains, who formed a round shield in front of her. The tanto clanged against the chains. She willed the chains forward, wrapping around the sword, the man, and then throttled him.

Stepping over the chocking man, hand now pointed backwards to slowly kill him, Kushina extended her sword and slashed at Danzo right hand, who was trying to free the last golden brace, shallowly cutting into the bandaged left arm as she cut the brace apart.

"Era era, are you sure you want to show your stolen arm to Konoha Danzo?" she asked. The man glanced around for an escape route, before he could move, Kushina launched more chains from her back, forming a large cocoon around the pair, chains ripping through the buildings.

On Kushina's arm an alert seal burned 'Shinkiro is in trouble' Her plans to torment Danzo cut short. "I don't have time to play with you" She said as she shot forward, chains still attached to her back. Danzo's lone eye widened, before the blade bit into his heart. He toppled backwards, dead.

Kushina released her chains, uncaring she set a neighborhood ablaze, and rushed back the arena.

She never noticed the subtle shift in reality.

* * *

Ibiki was rushing to the aquifer building. Shortly after Jiraya and his summons started to clash. He captured a Suna chuunin. A short, extremely painful torture session later, Ibiki managed to figure out most targets.

For an experienced T&I expert, it was the usual rote, which infiltrators usually aimed for, clan heads, division heads, supply storages, clan secrets etcetera. But one, in Ibiki's opinion, major weaknesses was never targeted, the water supply, vital for both Shinobi and civilian, was not target according to the chuunin. Konoha only had two sources that could truly provide all its needs. The nearby naka river flowing through the Uchiha lands, and the aquifer inside the city.

That worried Ibiki, and the only conclusion he could arrive to is that the enemy had a high-ranked infiltrator poison the supply somehow. He approached the building from the back, leaping on top of a building, he saw a familiar blond looking contemplatively at the structure.

Ibiki glanced towards the Ichibi rampaging to his left 'Why isn't he fighting that?' he couldn't help but ask himself. Suddenly red chakra burst from Naruto. A tail formed, the boy started to form handsigns. 'Why would he… friends with Kabuto.. a proof of loyalty!' "Traitor!" Ibiki roared, throwing a kunai with lightning quickness, only for it to be blocked by the chakra cloak.

Ibiki leapt forward, another kunai in hand. The boy unleashed the jutsu he was forming, and a devastating wind tore into the building, collapsing it on itself. Smoke, water vapor and debris clattered away as the boy retreated from the building. 'Rookie' Ibiki though dismissively, aiming for a knockout strike, so he could torture the boy later for the crime he committed.

A huge red claw slashed at his face, appearing suddenly out of the back of the boy. The boy whirled to face him. And with some satisfaction Ibiki noticed he struck some fear in the boy. Ibiki rushed through some hand seals, and slapped his palms on the ground.

"Kuchiyose: Aian Meiden" Ibiki shouted as a gigantic white cat statue arose from the ground. The thing split open in the middle. Right paw raised in the air, red ears pointing to the sky.

The kyuubified boy snapped out of his stupor as the statue started to close on him, the pikes threathing to impale him. Red tails and claws lashed out, ripping through the spikes, tearing into the walls of the statue. Naruto soon busted through the side as the thing started to sink into the ground.

Chains shot from the boys back, arcing over the boy, they bombarded the area around Ibiki, who used a kunai to block the ones threating to impale him. But more homed in on his position, driving him back.

Ibiki cursed as he was forced to block the next chain with his fore arm, gauging a deep wound in it. An idly thought formed in the back of his head 'That will be another scar'. He dived to the left, avoiding a sudden claw formed out of chakra as Naruto shot forward. He was then forced to roll on his side to avoid impalement by an tail.

He decided retreat would be most prudent, he had no guarantee any of his other attacks could pierce the cloak, and with all the extra limbs Naruto could form without looking at him meant his superior speed and strength where successfully negated. His capturing methods were inadequate to deal with the extra limbs. Pushing himself to his feet, leaping away before Naruto could properly close the distance again, he swore he would get the boy back as he flickered away.

'Just you wait, you successfully fooled me boy, but I will my private time with you in an interrogation room.'

* * *

Anko stepped into the nearest shelter from the arena, suspecting the elder council would have made their way inside. She was right, and she saw the pair conversing with an hapless genin, trying to find out what was happening.

"Honorable elder council" Anko said, drawing their attention while she did her best not to choke on the title. "Anko" Homura replied "What is happening outside?" she demanded. "The battle goes well" Anko lied smoothly "However the enemy left an seal of unknown design. I am ordered to gather all the seal experts I can"

The elderly pair nodded their understanding. "Very well, lead the way"

Anko soon led them outside, and quickly into an empty the building. She waved to the door of an empty room "The seal is inside here" she lied. The pair soon entered "Where is the seal then Koharu?" managed to ask, before the pair where suddenly enveloped by snakes.

"Anko, what is the meaning of this?" Homura demanded.

"You two" Anko said, a blood thirsty grin making its way on her face. "…are going to answer some question I have. You see, a nice lady removed this seal the two of you left on my neck." The elders blanched at the implications. "Dammit" Koharu cursed "I knew keeping the snake's whore to keep the contract was…" she was interrupted by a kunai slashing her cheek.

"Now that was some interesting information, but I have more questions…"

The elderly pair gulped.

* * *

Kakashi cursed as a suna jonin proved to be an actual challenge. After fighting clear through the arena, turning it into no-man's land. Kakashi, Guy and some chuunin where suddenly beset by a wave of suna troops.

During the hectic street to street fighting, he lost the energetic Guy, who probably spotted a strong opponent to test his mettle against.

He was further annoyed he did not know how his students were doing. He saw the transformed Ichibi, its sandy body informing Kakashi who exactly the container was. Since there was no Kyuubi trashing around to defend its turf, Kakashi presumed the cursed boy died before he could be useful.

Ducking under a flying rock spike, Kakashi returned fire with a fireball. Since the Ichibi was rampaging around, that either meant Sasuke succeeded killing Gaara, setting free the beast, or the boy had control over his monster. Still, it meant his star student was at ground zero, and Kakashi knew Sasuke was not quite ready yet to deal with a full-blown bjuu.

He hoped the boy survived unharmed.

Sakura never crossed his mind.

* * *

Iruka frowned as the barrier he erected with several other barrier specialists shuddered with the impact of another long range sand projectile. The enormous Ichibi was still focused on burying the industrial sector, but from time to time and started throwing large sand projectiles far and wide into the city.

As far Iruka could tell, there were no specific targets, but the Hokage office with the academy attached to it presented a large target.

Proud ninja of Konoha where assembling below, the Ino/Shika/Cho trio arrived earlier, taking command. They had cleverly outmaneuvered several kill teams who seemed to be hunting them.

The special jonin turned chuunin instructor for a certain jinchūriki to help the boy form bonds for the village couldn't help but worry for the students in his class. He knew some of them, like Sasuke and Shino would be fine. He hoped the instructors would be able to protect the others.

He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was worried for Naruto, despite declaring to be his friend, he knew he did not pursue the friendship properly. But he honestly did not know how to get closer to the boy. Thanks to his treatment by the village, every word an adult said to him was heard with weariness.

Iruka vowed to himself he would organize a get-together for his graduated class, the kids would need to share their experiences with each other to process the horrible thing that was war better.

* * *

Asuma was carrying Kurenai bridal style towards the hospital. A couple of fellow chuunin and jonin with various injuries right behind him. He managed to stop the bleeding, but she was very pale, her breath shallow. 'Come on Kure-chan, don't die on me!'

As they approached the hospital, they saw Oto and Konoha nin dueling around the structure, but it was clear the invaders already made it inside. As the wounded troop approached, the hospital burst into flames.

Their objective complete, the Oto nin started a fighting retreat. Konoha allowing them to in favor of attempting to salvage as much as they could.

The surviving medical personnel quickly commandeered a nearby store and started a triage. Too Asuma's dismay, that meant he had to put Kurenai down on the second floor, and hope she could pull through on her own. Her wound meaning she was in no state to fight again anytime soon.

As Asuma exited the provisional hospital, a large sand projectile crashed nearby, destroying a couple of buildings, deepening his worry for the woman he started to love.

* * *

Jiraya breathed an oath as he reached the edges of the industrial district, between fighting the invaders at the gate, and toying around with the kill team. Ichibi had plenty of time to trash the area, turning it into a mini desert thanks to all the sand the beast had thrown around.

Jiraya wasn't sure if he should be happy by the lack of Konoha ninja, either alive or dead. It either meant they were smart enough to stay away from the giant beast, too afraid to fight beast or worse, they did fight the beast and are now all buried beneath the sand.

'Doesn't matter, I can deal with it now' Jiraya thought confidently as he formed the handsigns for summoning.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In an enormous puff of smoke, a large red toad, slightly smaller than the Ichibi appeared. The toad had scar over the left eye,dark red markings over its body. A pipe was in its mouth, slowly puffing out smoke. It held a sheathed tanto in its right paw.

"Jiraya" Gamabunta boomed to Jiraya on his head "Why are you involving me into your dangerous fights!" "No time for joking 'Bunta, that thing is thrashing Konoha." Jiraya replied, stern look on his face. Gamabunta taking in his surroundings, grimly drew his tanto.

Ichibi, hearing the arrival, turned towards the pair, a big grin making its way on the toothy jaw.

AN: Before you go 'Kushina cares to much about Naruto to give him such a risky mission!' wait until the post invasion. I have thought about it!

Honestly, I am not sure if the Naka river flows inside Konoha or not, some of the long range shots over Konoha (such as Pain thrashing Konoha) doesn't show it. Or I missed it, I am not claiming perfect knowledge of canon here.)

I hope it's not unbelievable it took so long for Konoha to start getting its stuff together.

Oh man.. writing a good fight between Shukaku and 'Bunta is going to be hard.

Ah drat, breached the 40k word barrier with the last chapter, another late celebration!

Ncpfan: In hindsight, I suppose the reason is weak is on the surface, I'll explore it further during the apology. Thanks! Sorry to disappoint on the Danzo confrontation, but the reason why should be pretty clear.

As for Minato, let's say I have some looooooooooong term plans. *evil teasing laugh*

Wyrtha: Perhaps it was a bit unclear, but she unsealed 2 coffins, and the set of control kunai (thus 3 pieces needed, coffin, coffin, kunai) Also, 3 voices? *confused*

I had considered killing Anko, but decided not to, why? Well, read on ;) The entire story behind Oro/Hiru is a bit more complex.

Honestly, the brainstorming of 'I got a character who has spiky, telepathically controlled fiery chains of d00m. How can this character murder stuff with them' was quite fun…. And I haven't even used the couple of named attacks I got in mind. Those will appear much later in the story. *evil teasing laugh*


	15. Chapter 15

Gaara, upon Shukaku's head smiled bloodthirstily at the giant toad. He was getting bored of stomping buildings and only a few ninja dared to challenge him, he easily swept them aside, burying them under the loads of sand under his command.

Thanks to the seal, Shukaku did not fight him every step of the way. At the same time, he was hardly as quick and agile as the beast could be.

Gaara, getting impatient as the toad conversed with the man on its head, inflated Shukaku belly, drawing in enormous amounts of air.

"Fūton: Renkūdan!" he bellowed as he commanded the left arm to pound the inflated belly hard. A massive shot of air roared out from Shukaku's mouth towards the toad, who leapt high into the air in response. Shukaku pounded its belly twice again, fully deflating it. In response, two more shots of air flew forward, the first one went wide, underestimating the toads speed. The second was countered by a large water bullet shot from the toads mouth.

The attacks negated each other, sending a spray water wide over the battlefield and beyond. Gamabunta landed with earthshaking pound. Causing Gaara to momentarily worry about his siblings, before reassuring himself they should be far away.

The toad shot to the left, and with several low, rapid jumps was at his flank. Gaara tried to follow face the toad again, but Shukaku laborious form hindered him. 'He is going to attack the rear' Gaara thought, lashing out with the long spikey tail. The toad checked its advance, allowing the tail to slam into the ground in front of it. With a quick vertical swipe, Gamabunta seemingly cut off the tail, but as it rose to the sky, it reformed, blue markings and all. The cut off part collapsed into normal looking sand.

With a grunt of annoyance, the toad leapt under the recovered tail, dodging its attempt to spear it. Now fully behind the massive bjuu, Gamabunta cheeks inflated, and started to spit a stream of oil towards the head of Ichibi, Jiraya on top of Gamabunta's head ignited the flames. Gaara, looking over his shoulder saw the burning oil heading for him, and managed to put the thick tail between him and the oil.

The steam of oil splattered against the tail, burning and turning the sand of the outer parts to glass. Gamabunta shuffled to the side, trying to spit around the tail, but Gaara managed to block most of it, some splatters making its way on Shukaku's back.

The moment the stream of inflamed oil stopped, Gaara tried to squash the pair with a vertical swipe of his tail, but once again the agile toad evaded. And once again circled the lumbering Shukaku. No longer attacking, trying to keep its movement stable for its summoner on the toads head. Who was furiously working on top of it.

Gaara frowned, the agile toad so far evading all his attacks. Shukaku was too slow to catch the toad. Using a bijūdama crossed Gaara's mind, but the chances he hit his siblings or allies was present. Unexpectedly, the toad suddenly surged forward, catching Gaara off guard, raising Shukaku's arms in desperate defense like a boxer, the toads tanto buried itself into it the sandy forearms.

Jiraya ran over the blade, jumped unto the raised fist, using it as height boost. With a mighty leap Jiraya landed on top of Shukaku's head and without pause, slapped a piece of paper on Gaara's forehead. Gaara slumped backwards, and the gigantic sand construct started to collapse.

Jiraya leapt back towards the toad, landing near the tip of the still extended sword. The raised sand arms already falling down into piles of sand. Running across the blade, he thanked the toad for its help. Before jumping off, clear of all the falling sand. The toad dispelled in a giant puff of smoke, temporally blinding Jiraya from the falling Gaara.

* * *

Naruto snarled angrily as Ibiki disappeared. Turning back around, he jumped on top of the destroyed aquifer building. Calming himself down lest he loses himself to Kyuubi's boundless rage, he seeks for more things to destroy to complete his mission.

Suddenly the ground shook, and hidden from sight by the buildings still standing, debris flew in the air. A second boom was heard, this time he saw a giant red thing falling down from the sky. A large halo of water was being scattered. The thing landed, and the ground shook.

His mind suddenly made the connections, a large summon was fighting Gaara. The only one he knew about was Jiraya, the toad summoner, one of the sannin. Naruto stood indecisively. Continue with his destruction mission, or come to the aid of a fellow container.

**Help Ichibi**

Naruto blinked, not expecting advice from the fox. A moment later he decided to follow the advice, and shot forward over the roofs, constantly keeping an eye on the massive form. 'I don't want to die by an attack that missed' Naruto thought.

He was near the new deserts edge as he saw a figure jump towards the head from the fist. Moments later Shukaku's form froze, and started to fall apart. As the sand construct fell to the earth, he saw Gaara's slumped form falling. He dashed forward, braving the sand shooting outward under the pressure. His chakra cloak protecting him. He nearly lost sight of Gaara again, but his leap was well aimed.

Midair he felt Kyuubi's chakra recede to his confusion. **Do you want to burn Ichibi's container then **The kyuubi answers his thoughts, sarcasm strong in the foxes voice. Naruto felt like slapping himself, he was using the same stuff to shred and tear.

He couldn't however, as his arms conveniently filled themselves will Gaara's form. The impact sending Naruto in a spin, who landed onhis back on the sand of Shukaku's fallen form. Sliding off the sand slope.

He put Gaara down and inspected him, he saw a white paper with all kinds of symbols on it. Quickly realizing what laid him low, the same thing happened to him by his mother. He ripped off the paper.

Gaara groaned in pain. And looked around with confusion in his eyes. "Who are you?" he asked. "It's me Naruto." The boy looked, before recognizing him "Kushina's son" he stated decisively. Naruto nodded.

"You!" A man's voice hissed loudly. "Why did you remove the seal!" he demanded. Naruto turned around, standing protectively in front of Gaara. He saw the tall, white haired man, red marks over his face. 'Jiraya' Naruto thought.

"Move idiot! He is a…" he trailed off as Naruto reengaged his cloak, one tail sprouting outward. Kyuubi was warning him not to get hit by a piece of paper, lest the fox would chew off something important to his manhood.

"Naruto?" Jiraya asked. "How do you know my name?" Naruto demanded. Before Jiraya could respond, he was forced backwards by a hail of senbon. He then leapt leftwards to avoid getting sliced apart by a wind attack.

"Gaara!" Temari shouted worriedly. "Temari, Kankuro.. you should be far away. I could have hurt you." Gaara spoke worried. "You nearly did" Kankuro responded without thinking, receiving a glare from Temari as Gaara looked down.

"Naruto, why are you protecting those suna-nin. They are attacking the village!" Jiraya demanded hotly. "I would scratch my headband if I could Jiraya-sama" Naruto replied cheekily. The man looked agape, surprised by the answer. Using the man's surprised state, Naruto shot forward with the intent to rip him apart.

'Alone I won't be able to take him, but with the three sand nin we should be able to handle him.' Naruto thought confidently. Moments later he was slapped aside by Jiraya's hair, who had recovered. Temari quickly swung her fan, launching a wind attack which Jiraya countered by raising a wall through the sand. The wind slamming into it.

Kankuro helped Gaara to his feet. "Can you transform again?" he asked worriedly. After a moment, Gaara shook his head. "I can't, I can't sense Shukaku" he started gingerly moving the sand. "I can still use the sand however." He spoke with more confidence.

'Shukaku?' Naruto asked himself. Before he was knocked back by a heavy punch from Jiraya. His follow-up interrupted by Kankuro's puppet, who tried to impale him with all four arms. Jiraya twirled around the puppet, a blue sphere forming in his hand.

"Rasengan!" Jiraya shouted as he shoved the sphere into the puppet, grinding the puppet in half before blowing the top and bottom parts far away. He ducked under the sand shuriken Gaara had launched, before mule-kicking Naruto away again. Temari looked for an opening to slice him apart, but they were interrupted when two men wearing melody arms jumped in, attacking Jiraya in a ferocious two on one taijutsu match.

Another three men where close behind, the leader facing the young genin. "Can the Ichibi container transform?" he asked. Gaara shook his head. "Then you four get away from here, you only get in the way."

Temari and Kankuro nodded. Gaara looked reluctant, but obeyed his sister. Naruto wavered for a second, before setting off in a different direction, remembering he still had a power plant to target.

* * *

Kushina scowled as she cut her way through an ANBU team from behind. 'Konoha recovered the arena too quickly, I am running out of time.' Using the seal again, she dashed through the barrier. Greeted by an tired Hiruzen, and a badly battered Shinkiro. Quickly unsealing the Kusanagi, she shot forward, blocking a swipe from Hiruzens staff.

A yelp from the staff informed Kushina it was indeed the transformed monkey king.

"Kushina" Hiruzen growled. "Why, why destroy the village your husband protected. Just for personal revenge?"

"He is not my husband, not anymore" Kushina growled back "I became a single mother the moment the bastard decided Konoha needed a jinchūriki"

"He made the right choice, every major village has at least one." He pointed vaguely to the direction Shukaku started to fight Gamabunta. 'The kill squad must have failed' Kushina thought. "They are decisive changers of battlefield. Without one, Konoha would fall." Kushina snorted at the lecture "Konoha did fine without one for the past three wars professor." She mocked.

She turned slightly towards Shinkiro, handing him the tag. "I am skinning this monkey Shinkiro." She spoke coldly, Shinkiro nodded "Be careful Kushina, he might be old, but he is worthy of his title." "I know Shinkiro, thank you for wearing him out." Kushina said, as Shinkiro staggered into the hole in the barrier.

She saw Hiruzen eyeing the hole, and decided to dissuade him from trying to run "Eyes here professor!" she shouted as she launched a multitude of chains from her back towards Hiruzen, who quickly spun his staff, batting them away, ignoring the flames erupting around him.

Hiruzen tsked as he saw Kushina's plan. Using the chains he batted away, she was enveloping him. Slightly shrinking his staff, he spun up momentum as more chains shot from Kushina, embedding themselves around him. Minor vibrations under his feet informing him he was nearly completely surrounded.

Focusing chakra through the staff, Enma adding his own, he slammed the staff hard into the wall of chains, dispersing several off them, Enma rested upon the chains he couldn't break, Hiruzen slid himself over his staff through the opening he made, before pulling the staff out. He did this just in time, the cocoon collapsed on itself.

He whirled around, facing a snarling Kushina trying to impale him on the Kusanagi. He batted the blade to the side, Enma's claws appearing out of the staff, trying to rake Kushina who nimbly bend around the strikes. Hiruzen stomped down on the summoned snake Kushina dropped during her bending.

Both fighters leapt away from each other, Hiruzen tossed his staff up in the air, forming handseals as he went.

"Katon: Karyū Endan!"

A large fire dragon emerged from Hiruzens mouth and charged towards Kushina, the dragon flanked on either side by flames that arced towards her to. Kushina rapidly made seals of her own as she dropped the Kusanagi.

"Kuchiyose: Rashōmon!"

A demonic gate sprung from the roof, raising towards the sky. The fire dragon exploded against it. Behind the gate, Kushina shot chains from both her hands to the bottom of the roof on top of the gate. The unstable roof caused the gate to wobble towards under the impact, Kushina pushed back, and toppled the gate towards Hiruzen, who was just picking up his staff.

Running up the gate as it toppled forwards, Kushina leapt into the air, aiming her arms at Hiruzen "Mandara no Jin!" A veritable horde of snakes shot out of her sleeves and mouth towards Hiruzen. Who planted his staff upright into the roof, forming handseals as quifck as he could.

"Doton: Doryūheki!" he shouted as he slapped the palms of his hand into the roof, an earthen wall shot up. Blocking his view from Kushina and the snakes she was spitting out. Knowing he only stopped the initial charge, he rapidly retreated away from the wall. Soon enough, snakes where appearing on the top and the sides, opening the mouths, blades popping out.

Once again he planted his staff into the roof, quickly forming another set of hand seals "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" he shouted as he belched out a fireball that exploded the earthen wall he made earlier. Removing the majority of snakes.

He suddenly felt Enma grab onto him and throw him to the side, a split second later an extended Kusanagi impaled the ground he was just standing it. Kushina retracted the blade, but instead of the blade going towards her, she went towards the embedded tip. With a punch she propelled the transformed monkey into the barrier. A short screech of pain was heard, before the staff disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hiruzen struggled to his feet, before he was forced to block a furious kick from Kushina, flipping him through the air. He managed to recover midair and landed on his feet, before sinking to his knees. The fatigue and chakra exhaustion of fighting Shinkiro and Kushina back to back could no longer be ignored.

"Era era, feeling your old age Hiruzen" Kushina mocked, sensing her advantage. Hiruzen glared back panting "I might fall today, but Konoha will not!" he spoke resolutely. "Era, I agree, not today, but it will in the future." Hiruzen shook his head. "It won't, my successor will make sure of that." Kushina chuckled. "And who will that be? Jiraya will turn down the job, his 'research' much more important. Are you thinking about Tsunade perhaps? She will easily turn to my side when she learns the truth." Hiruzens eyes shot wide open 'She knows?!' he thought. "Danzo then? Well he is being quite dead now, his little mokuton arm useless."

"Mokuton arm?" Hiruzen couldn't help but ask. "Era, you didn't know? Your little shadow truly had a mind of its own." Kushina mocked. "That little crippled arm of his was revitalized with the Shodaime's cells… I was actually the payment for that treatment from Orochimaru."

Kushina chuckled "Era era, I wonder how often the Shodaime's grave was disturbed… first on your orders, then by Danzo for his arm.. later by Kabuto on Orochimaru's orders." Hiruzen looked confused "I don't understand" he croaked. "Of course you don't fool. I admit your battle instincts are as sharp as they used to be, but otherwise you have been just rotting in that office. You did not see my invasion coming, you did not see Naru-chan switching to his mother's side. You. Saw. NOTHING."

"Naruto is loyal to the village" Hiruzen objected weakly. "Hah, even a genin, or even a kid could lie to you. He is on speaking term with the little fox inside him. Quite familiar with it.. I mean, HIM. I lugged that fox around half my life and I didn't know the gender of him."

Hiruzens eyes would have grown bigger if they could. "This is the end for you Hiruzen" she shot forward, ducking under his weak counter punch, landing a devastating uppercut. Her other hand snaked out, grabbing the arm Hiruzen tried to punch her with, pulling him back down. She handily unbalanced him and forced him face first into the ground.

"Good bye" she spoke coldly, before stomping down on his neck. Breaking it with a sickening crunch.

AN: Wewt, the Gaara + Shukaku verses 'Bunta + Jiraya fight was a hard write. Same went for Kushina/Hiruzen, until the final part hit me as inspiration, the write up to it suddenly was easy. I certainly hope the fight, despite it shortness, was good enough.

Yes, my Naruto can still be overconfident thanks to his lack of experience, unable to properly gauge the giant difference of strength.

Homarid: Yea, Hiruzen is not a nice person, but he is a ninja and a leader of a village. So he has too. Keep in mind however, that in this story things aren't as simple as they appear to be, and Hiruzen has some guiding morals, unlike a certain bandaged man who dodged a rather painful attempt at impalement.

BrainII: I disagree, once Jiraya gets his game-face on, he is pretty strong. So not looking forward to writing his fighting scenes.

Ryperiour2: Depends on what you find boring. Yes, there will be some non-violent plot development before we dive into the next bout of violent murder. (A bit like the chaps between prelims and invasion)

Tormound: Gaara is not asleep, he is in full control.

The Light to all Fears: Glad to hear, the update rate won't keep up however.

Guest reviewer 1 (Although I think you are the same): Yes, there will be lots of hugging when they can. Danzo is alive for a reason *insert thunder sound* I am not going to say what happens to Kurenai. As for Anko's love life… not telling, har har har.

Guest reviewer two: You'l learn more next chapter about Hinata *tease* Glad to hear it is readable. As for the Hokages.. not telling :D. I am shooting for a grey Naruto/Kushina. Some people jumped ahead and thought I would go for evil since Vanex does that. But I am going for grey… They won't be nice, but they won't be slaughtering babies either. As for Sakura squashing, exactly what I was aiming for.

Wyrtha: Thanks, I am glad it is a believable solution for not having sacrifices prepared, without having it as 'advanced' as Kabuto does during the 4th war.

I am trying to carefully balance Naruto's growth in power. If was suddenly able to destroy a fairly large building completely, he would be a bit too strong for the coming fights. Ibiki is part of the conflict balls I want between Konoha and Oto. And Naruto wore the Konoha headband, thus declaring himself 'loyal' to Konoha. (That he took whatever Oath Konoha had with crossed toes doesn't matter.)

Iruka is just a set up that I have a scenario for the rookies to discuss it. I agree about the 'Noes, our jinchuriki' thing , I find those fics who go deep into the 'We need to get our jinchuriki at all costs' a bit weak most of the times, as they don't cover the reason why. As you said, both Mito and Kushina where never mentioned using its chakra.

Spoiler, Kyuubi is going to be disappointed.

Syrbyrys: Interesting…

Edit note: Forgot the scene break lines, thankfully their where only two.


	16. Chapter 16

Anko left the corpses of the elder council both satisfied and confused. She knew they truly believed children with a jinchūriki parent magically sprouted bloodlines. 'Hah, that they could believe that, Kumo has at least one known jinchūriki and they hunger for the bloodline limit abilities, yet no new bloodlines appeared in Kumo.' But also confused 'Hiruzen truly did not order sensei to execute the mokuton experiments. Yet the paperwork was correct as far I could remember, sensei wouldn't do it otherwise.'

Overall however, she got too torture two people she didn't like, so Anko was mostly happy.

'Now normally this is the part I get dango' the girl thought. She overlooked the village, some places burning, other places completely trashed. One district turned into a mini desert. 'I don't think I'll get any dango here though.'

'That woman knew the flaw of my prototype mark. And she used snakes and said sensei trained her. Never thought he would take another apprentice.'

The suddenly saw red signal flares erupt from the arena. 'That is either an attack or retreat signal, considering they are already inside the city they are leaving.' Anko thought. 'I have no way to prove I am on their side aside from the woman… and I want to find out who ordered sensei to do those experiments.' Anko started leaping towards the Hokage monument. 'Il scale the wall near the monument. With our own forces assembling at the Hokage tower, nobody will bother me.'

Anko leapt away, she would not be seen by anyone alive for several months.

* * *

Kushina looked at the cooling corpse of Hiruzen, she felt satisfied that she finally had her revenge for his crimes against her clan. She forced herself not to savor the moment however, she had people depending on her, the longer she tarried, the longer her people and most importantly, her son, would fight.

"Lower the barrier" she ordered. The sound four instantly dropped the barrier and surrounded her. The arena area was still empty. "Jirobo, Tayuya, launch the flares. Kidomaru, cut off Hiruzens arm and store it in a scroll. Sakon, Ukon, how goes the battle as far as you could tell?" she snapped, the five people shot into action.

Kushina frowned upon hearing the twins report. 'Konoha assembles too quickly, did the assassins on the clan heads fail too?' she thought. Nevertheless, the retreat signal was sent. She did not see Shinkiro anywhere, so she presumed he already had left after she started dueling Hiruzen. She hoped he was alright.

"Flares are up Kushina-sama" Tayuya reported. Kidomaru nodded "Arm retrieval quest complete m'am." Kushina refrained from rolling her eyes at Kidomaru's rather unique way of speaking. She suspect every ninja village needed a weird man with strange manner of speaking. So the more sane shinobi could use him as a measuring stick of 'going over the edge.' At least with Kidomaru, her villages weird guy wasn't as loud as Konoha's green beast.

* * *

The group soon headed towards the destroyed east walls. Resistance was light initially, but they ran into unsuspected opposition.

"Kushina!" a certain usually one-eyed jonin shouted, sharingan eye blazing. Kushina stopped, the sound four forming a protective layer around her.

"Era, the biggest disappointment in Konoha. Minato would be disappointed in you." Kushina spoke, her eyebrows knitting in concentration. "What do you mean?" Kakashi asked confused, halting the hand seals he was forming.

"Well, you did say you wanted to be a big brother figure for the baby that would be born." Kakashi nodded carefully. "Did you know the name of that baby?" Kakashi shook his head. "Well, let me tell you Kakashi, its Naruto."

"What.. no! The demon can't be sensei's son!" Kushina shook her head "This again, like I told Kurenai. He is the third container, I was the second." Kakashi's eyes widened further, he strangled out a "No" in denial.

Suddenly, a red, wicked spiked chain erupted from the ground, cutting deeply into Kakashi's torso. He stumbled back as the chain reared away from him. Before it could snap forward, Kakashi substituted with some debris on instinct. The debris where crushed and burned, but Kakashi was alive, retreating immediately, knowing full well he could not win with his new wound.

'Chains from the feet are so much slower' Kushina mused, wishing she could improve it. "Well then, let's go. No use chasing trash." She told the stunned sound four.

If it wouldn't give him away, Naruto would have groaned in frustration as he saw the destroyed power station. It seemed another squad completed his objective, meaning his run around town, avoiding forces from both sides after running away from Jiraya was for nothing.

He clambered wearily on top of a building, he refrained from using Kyuubi's chakra, as it gave away his location, but between the fight with Neji to now, he did a lot of running around. He was getting tired.

'And as bonus on top, I don't know what to do until the signal….' He started to muse, until he saw the flares appear above the arena.

'Time to go' he thought almost giddily, it was time to say goodbye to Konoha, and never to return.

He spotted a mixed squad of Suna and Oto ninja at the end of the street of the building he was standing on. Remembering that Suna jonin would only recognize him with his Kyuubi cloak on, he activated it, and leapt towards them.

He did expect to hear his name yelped out halfway down the street.

* * *

Hinata was getting more and more worried. The invasion was ongoing for a while now, thankfully the Hyuga district was spared so far. But she did not see or heard about her sister. She did not worry about her father or Neji, despite his wounds from Naruto, she knew both where strong and would survive the storm.

After another failed inquiry about he sister, she could no longer take it. Easily making her way past the branch guards, who stood guard against any possible invaders in case they decided the Hyuga household was the next target, Hinata dashed back towards the arena.

Halfway there, in the abandoned market district. She suddenly saw an organized retreat sound and suna ninja. Red flares glared balefully in the sky. A dreadful chakra was close on their heels. Pressing herself into a hiding spot, she silently activated her bloodline. She saw the last of the retreating squads already was past her, and the red form of chakra was close behind, she focused closer on this thing, her curiosity momentarily overwhelmed her confusion and worry.

The last thing she expected was seeing Naruto's whiskered face behind the cloak of chakra. Without meaning to, she yelped a surprised "Naruto-kun"

His head instantly snapped towards her hiding location, and she shyly stepped out. She realized he was probably using the foxes power. But he seemed to be in control. "Naruto-kun?" she asked shyly.

The smile she was so familiar with made its way on his face, although toothier thanks to the elongated canines he seemed to sport now, enhancing his feral look. "Hinata" she spoke happily. "This is our chance to get away from here." "A..Away fr..from here?" she stuttered in surprise. "Yea, my mom is alive and is the Otokage." Naruto said, stepping towards her to pick her up.

Although Hinata was certainly shy, she was far from stupid, and quickly connected the dots. She shook her head violently "I can't!" Naruto blinked in surprise, he was certain Hinata was as unhappy as she could be at 'home'. "Why not?" he asked almost despairingly, unable to take the only person he cared about in Konoha with him.

"My sister, I won't leave my sister with _them_" she spoke with conviction "I promised to my mother I would look after her." Naruto was surprised by the firmness in her voice. He smiled "Alright Hinata, I will come back for you and your sister, I promise. And, I am sorry." Hinata looked puzzled at the apology, and then darkness overtook her. Knocked out by Naruto.

Naruto quickly made a clone, putting the knocked out girl back in her hiding spot. He heard ninja approaching, and did not want to cast the girl in a suspicious light.

The short conversation caused him to lose sight of the squad he was following. 'Well, I know where we are regrouping…' Naruto dashed towards the walls. Intent to make it out of Konoha, he had a promise to keep now.

* * *

Shinkiro left behind the barrier as soon as he exited it. He was worried about his youngest, the duel between the toad and the tanuki clearly visible. He wanted to rush over and defend his boy, but was painfully aware that in his state, he would be a liability.

His worries doubled when Shukaku's form collapsed. He considered once again changing course, but it would be too late even if he left now.

He could only pray the siblings could reach each other one time, and either fight off or escape their adversary.

He successfully rejoined the his troops who were regrouping , it seemed like they performed better than expected, and where preparing to meet Konoha's counter attack. Shinkiro could only shake his head at their optimism. He and Kushina both knew destroying Konoha in one go would not work. By now all the close by outposts would be notified of the attack on Konoha. If they did not leave soon, they would be crushed between the forces closing in to assist Konoha, and the concentrated, organized force gathered around the Hokage tower and other gathering points that had not been destroyed.

They had to move soon, cutting through the approaching group before the approaching troop could consolidate into a credible harassment force, and set a pace high enough to escape the troops in Konoha, although Kushina had several distraction plans set up.

If it wasn't for Kushina's superior spy network inside the village, Shinkiro was not sure if they even would have managed sneaking so many troops so close to Konoha. He was very glad the gamble he took allying with the woman paid off. Although he had plans to shove off the blame to Oto should everything gone wrong, Suna would have suffered.

The flares crossed the skies, and on his word, most of Suna's troops retreated in good order.

* * *

Nara Shikaku, jonin commander of Konoha, muttered a 'troublesome' as he closed his eyes, and started processing the information he had. Communication was disrupted regularly, and the enemy had an uncanny amount of knowledge about the inner workings of Konoha's emergency siege plan. Many of the secondary fallback points where annilated. Both the summon fight at the east wall, and the massive destruction by Ichibi further battered the otherwise robust plan.

'The main force managed to assembled at the Hokage tower, I furthermore have troops at three secondary points, all close to Hokage tower. I have reports of the Hyuga and Aburame clan digging in at their own compounds. Those troops won't move unless their clan head or I order them to.'

'My enemies are mostly concentrating themselves in the east, they most likely will retreat given their knowledge of our plans. If they do attack, it means a fourth player would enter the game…troublesome.'

'Most assassination squads are eliminated or they retreated, their targets seemed to be clan heads and division heads. That means a squad had multiple targets, or the enemy dedicated over fifty ninja to take out Konoha's leadership.'

'Then there are the reports of the first Hokage destroying the Akimichi district, while the second Hokage is flooding the Nara forest… I hope my wife got away on time.'

The Nara's eyes shot open, and he started out snapping orders. In the distance he saw red flares slowly dropping. 'A signal' As the Konoha ninja started their counter attack, buildings near the Hokage tower randomly started exploding.

'More proof they have infiltrated us very well' the Nara thought dourly. 'Fear tactic, but I need to be careful' he send a general warning to the scouts to double check for booby traps. Konoha ninja advanced slowly into their own village.

'I hope Hokage-sama is fine, he has been isolated with just his ANBU detail and the reinforcements I sent earlier for far too long.'

* * *

They would find his abused body on top of the arena roof, a half broken earthen wall, a fallen demonic gate, numerous scorch marks and gauged roofing telling a story of a glorious last stand, if their leader had not died with an expression being a mix of fear and confusion.

Jiraya scowled as he gazed over the five dead bodies of the kill squad that stopped him from smacking sense into his godson and properly lock up the Ichibi container.

'Why did Naruto turn against Konoha?' went through his thoughts. He didn't care for the boy, but his disloyalty was an insult to his student Minato 'Must be the snakes twisted mind games' he concluded. Unaware of the truth behind the events that happened the day.

In the distance he heard buildings exploding, and he shot towards them the sounds.

* * *

Danzo entered the underground base closest to the place he 'died'. He quickly re-applied the seal bracings before his modified arm drained him dry of chakra.

'It was luck that allowed me to survive, if she did not cut the last brace, I would not have been able to use the 'Izanagi'. The secret of my sharingan's is thankfully still save.' Danzo briefly toyed with the idea of killing Uchiha Sasuke to replace his lost eye. 'He still has a chance to form a mangekyō sharingan, nine eyes will do for now'

'This invasion changes things' Danzo mused to himself. 'Hiruzen underestimated Orochimaru, although I did not expect he would turn that woman into an apprentice myself.'

A masked man appeared, kneeling in front of him "Danzo-sama"

"Speak"

"Sarutobi Hiruzen has fallen." Danzo raised nodded, suspecting that, he asked "Who did the deed?" "The woman claimed to be Uzumaki Kushina Danzo-sama." Danzo raised an eyebrow 'Not Orochimaru himself?' "I see, continue" "The forces of Suna and Oto seem to be retreating before the counterattack organized by Nara Shikaku" Danzo frowned further 'Orochimaru had sworn he would destroy Konoha, why isn't he pushing his forces into destruction… perhaps he is not command then?'

Danzo calmly analyzed the situation as more reports came in. The raid of medical data was worrying before the hospital was set ablaze, so they did not know the actual loss. In the end, Danzo came to a decision. He spoke to himself softly, toast in hand.

"Well Hiruzen, it seems like you will be no longer ahead of me."

AN: And that concludes the invasion arc. Short chapter, but it finishes up the actual invasion. For those who think Hinata is being stupid, she is, worry does that to people.

~Fin~

Kidding, the story will now return to a once a day update rate while I finalize the post invasion events, and make sure the wider world is properly handled.

I am now roughly as far as Vanex progressed his story. Needed a whole bunch more words for it though.

The next chapter will be handling the retreats and Konoha's initial reaction. Next chapter will come on Monday.

BrainII: I am not defending his character, which I agree is pretty horrible. His strength can lead to endless discussions, so I won't go further into it.

lightning king: Gaara is control, but he does not have perfect control. Also fighting a toad with an orange idiot on the head or an experienced ninja can make quite the difference.

.3950: Most of your points have been answered, usually the chapter after the one you reviewed.

Ncpfan: Aye, that and I am going to try to kill my characters in different ways instead of the usual 'Death by Jutsu' or 'Death by pointy objected inserted where it shouldn't be'

(Alternatives for Hiruzen would be toasted in an oven of chains (Rejected because his expression would be lost) Death by electrocution seal (Couldn't work the monologue properly while Kushina was setting it up, and Hiruzen resisting) Death by poison (Ended up being a bit boring))

….I think I spend too much time dreaming up ways to kill character.

Guest reviewer: It seems I completely forgot to do that! 0_O Also…you have a nasty way of harming characters.. maybe I am not that bad.


	17. Chapter 17

Naruto was dashing through the forest, hopping from tree to the tree, his heading was north-east, like instructed. 'I should have asked how far away.' Naruto complained in his head, audibly complaining about fan-girls and their sense of direction and distance.

Kyuubi had cut off his supply of power, citing his body was reaching its limit. He couldn't help but to agree, his entire body felt like it suffered a bad sunburn.

He came to a sudden stop on instinct, moments later, a squad of ninja appeared in front of him. He gazed at the headbands, an sound note was on them. He sighed in relief.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" the female leader asked firmly. He nodded "Where does the sound prosper?"

Naruto minds shot back to the events earlier today, remembering his conversation with Temari before… 'before I killed a lot of people….' He blanched at the realization, so caught up moment to moment he forgot. "Where the sand is solid" he managed to croak out.

The female, with light blue hair, long strands of hair framing her face, jumped over , and like the security at the aquifer, touched his shoulder and pulsed chakra. "It's really him" she stated. "Are you alright brat?" she asked with a tone of worry. Naruto nodded shakily, but it was clear she didn't buy it.

She looked at him like she was trying to figure out a puzzle, and she suddenly had a solution. "First time you killed people, and now you are remembering it?" she half asked, half stated. Naruto nodded again. She patted his shoulder "Don't think about it too much, its either you or them." She spoke up louder now "Il bring him to Kushina-sama. Keep patrolling"

"Follow me" she said, Naruto followed her quickly, trying to push away the fact he had killed other people. 'I can't believe this I was thinking about making Neji my first kill…. Revenge truly twists a person.'

They quickly made it up an large hill, near the top there were more signs of an army, temporary tents to rest, field hospitals and subdued revelry. "Kushina-sama!" the woman called out.

Naruto spotted his mother turn around. "Guren" she spoke pleasantly, her smile widening as she saw Naruto "Naru-chan!" Naruto looked embarrassed at the childish name, but allowed himself to be hugged by the woman.

"Where is Kabuto-kun?" Kushina asked. Kabuto stepped out of the shadows "I am here Kushina-sama" he replied. Kushina smiled again "Thank you for looking after Naru-chan Kabuto-kun."

"It was of no trouble Kushina-sama" Kabuto bowed, causing Kushina to miss the smirk on his face. He did not watch Naruto at all. With an invasion happening gave him the perfect chance to raid the hospital and other locations. So he had much more important things to do that watch some blond brat running around and keep him safe.

Guren watched Kabuto with a frown, she never trusted the man and had not sensed him during her encounter with Naruto. His loyalty always seemed a bit too fluid for her taste. But she did not speak up, not wishing to make an scene.

Kushina turned to one of her commanders "How much longer until the deadline?" Kushina asked. "A bit over an hour Kushina-sama" the man replied dutifully. Kushina nodded "Kabuto-kun, go to the field hospitals and make sure they are ready to move the wounded. Guren-chan, get Karin-chan to prepare the energy transfer seal, we will be making the crystal wall the moment we are ready to leave. Take Naru-chan with you, Karin is looking forward to see her brother."

"Brother?" Naruto echoed. "I have a sister?" he asked a moment later. Kushina chuckled "Two sisters, both adoptive, but they're both of Uzumaki blood. That is what counts" Naruto was silent, unsure what to say. Kushina chuckled again and gave him a quick hug. "Go with Guren now Naru-chan."

The pair soon found Karin, a red-headed girl slightly older than Naruto. Her crimson eyes lit up with recognition as she saw the pair. She stopped attending the patient she was working on and ran over to the pair.

"So you must be my brother Naruto" She spoke enthousaticly as she gave him a hug 'What is with all the hugging' Naruto thought as he tried not to stiffen like a board "Hmm, a bit cold chakra on the outside, but warm beneath… wow.. the nine-tails chakra is nasty" she spoke to herself, getting a puzzled look from Naruto, before he stiffened up. "You can sense the fox?" he couldn't help but ask.

She nodded "I am from the Kagura branch" Naruto made the connection, the Kagura clan was absorbed during the clan-war era into the Uzumaki clan, after a long time of close connections and marriages. Their ability to sense chakra varied heavily, but as far Naruto could tell, it was strong in Karin.

Guren smiled warmly at the scene. 'Can't wait to introduce him to Yuki, he seems like a good kid' "You two can get a room later" she teased, warming up to Naruto's easy acceptance of his new family. Both shot an offended look at her "Karin, Kushina-sama needs you to set up the energy transfer array."

Karin nodded, grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled him along. "Alright, let's go!" she spoke cheerfully. Soon they stood on a slightly elevated bump on the hill, giving Naruto a good look at the distantly burning Konoha. Black smoke wafting lazily in the air. He could see a yellow patch where Gaara had rampaged.

'I hope he also got away safely.' Naruto hoped for his fellow container, feeling a distant kinship with the boy. "So Naruto, mind helping me with this seal?" Karin asked as she was drawing symbols into the ground. Naruto shook his head. "I don't know anything about seals." He spoke regretfully, wanting to dive into the subject the moment he knew it was something his clan was good at.

"You don't?" Karin asked curiously, seeing Naruto's disappointed look, she felt like kicking herself, forgetting that despite her harsh upbringing under Orochimaru before Kushina took over, she did learn all kinds of things, something Naruto was denied at every corner.

Wanting to change subject upon seeing Karin's conflicted expressions "Can you tell me about my other sister?" he asked. Karin smiled "Ah.. Tayuya… she is..uuh.. rough around the edges, but beneath that unpleasant language of hers, she does care deeply. Despite refusing to call mom, mom. She is the first to help if Kushina needs something." Karin finished with a smile.

"I am sure she'll warm up to you in no-time if you look past the foul nickname she'll give you.. probably" she said with a nervous chuckle. Naruto could not help but wonder what kind of sister this 'Tayuya' would be from Karin's description.

* * *

Suna fallback point

Shinkiro walked into the field hospital as soon he heard his children had arrived. To his happiness, he saw that all three of them where alright, although Gaara's shoulder was bandaged from Sasuke's chidori. The bandages where clean, so that meant they were fresh.

A smile fought its way on his face. "You are all aright, I was worried when I saw the toad summon." Temari smiled back, Kankuro lips twitched upward. 'And Gaara is still as distant and weary as ever… but I deserve that I suppose… Kushina was right, I made a terrible mistake' Shinkiro mused to himself once again.

Temari responded "If it was not for Naruto…. Gaara could have been hurt. I knew from Kushina-sama's display seals are powerful, but to force Shukaku's power back into Gaara with a small piece of paper…" Shinkiro raised an eyebrow "Naruto came to your aid? It seems I need to thank Kushina twice now." Temari nodded "He caught Gaara as he fell. And then bought us the time for an Oto kill team to show up. They send us away. Kankuro lost his puppet fighting Jiraya."

Shinkiro sighed in relief. "It's glad to see you are all okay." His voice turned stern. "We are moving out soon, help where you can and then find Baki, I saw him earlier."

Shinkiro walked away again as the siblings exchanged glances. Before getting up and following their fathers instructions.

Outside Shinkiro encouraged his troops to move out. 'The distraction Kushina promised will happen soon if I am not mistaken.'

Kushina walked out of the tree line, smiling as Karin and Naruto chatted about light subjects. 'Seems like those two bonded easily. As she came closer, neither teenager noticing her, one busy on her work, the other turned away from her talking to his sister. "…kind a jealous I don't have red hair like you or mom…. I'd think I'd like better with it."

Kushina smiled 'I can help with that.' "Well, that shouldn't be that hard Naru-chan." Naruto whirled around and blinked "Hi mom" he said after moment of surprised silence "You can?" he said after progressing her statement.

"Compared to giving people inbuilt weaponry, red hair is easy" Kushina spoke with confidence. "Karin-chan, are you done?" "Yes mom" Karin responded dutifully. She turned to her commanders "Are all the troops ready?" they nodded. "Good, join them and move out as soon the wall appears." "Hai Kushina-sama" they intoned. Before leaving in puffs of smoke or leaves.

"Naru-chan, could you please sit in that circle there?" Kushina asked, as she took up position on her own. The seal on the ground looking like a fan. With one circle at the base, one at each end and the last one on the top. Kushina sat in the center one, while Guren took position at the base. Karin took the remaining circle.

"Now channel chakra into the seal, try to keep it as controlled as you can. Guren, do it" she commanded. With extra chakra flowing into her, Guren started a string of hand seals, before clapping her palms on the ground.

"Shoton: Senri no Chōjō!"

Ahead of her, a crystal spire started to rise, far above the trees. On each side more spires started to grow. Crystal growths spurted between the two spires, connecting them into a wall. Soon, a massive, sparkling crystal wall, sharp spines bristling in all directions, was erected between the direction of Konoha and Oto's forces.

Kushina stood up again, patting the panting Guren on her back. "Well done Guren." She turned towards Karin who laid down, also trying to gain her breath. "Are you alright Karin?" The girl nodded, turning her head towards Kushina, her expression instantly turned worried, Kushina followed her gaze. They saw Naruto on his back, breathing heavily.

"Naruto" Kushina shouted worried, nearly leaping to his side. Karin, despite her exhaustion was next to her in a second. "Dammit, he is burning up, he overused his chakra, his entire system is stressed. Guren, get Kabuto now!" Kushina ordered as she picked up Naruto. Naruto felt his world go black.

* * *

Shikaku nearly let out a whistle as he saw the crystal wall rise from the forest. His mind however rapidly spun through the reasons why the enemy would do that.

Konoha forces had nearly secured their own village. After the initial barrage of explosions, nothing more happened. They had found the dead Hokage, although his missing arm was not found.

The reports he heard earlier about the two revived Hokages seemed to be true. Food storages had been crushed under iron hard thick trees. And parts of the Nara ranch where flooded, the deer drowned, the medical storages destroyed. 'That means the enemy has the ability to revive the dead, at a high cost, because we did not face an army of revived warriors. Or they have somebody with Mokuton and an high water affinity… both cases are troublesome. At the least, whoever or whatever is responsible is no longer around.'

'Now the question is, why did they make that wall…. Diversion, distraction, to cover their retreat, a large scale booby trap, some form of ranged attack and this is the first stage? I need to risk somebody to scout it out. At least Jiraya is alive having faced down a bjuu'

Snapping out orders. Shikaku continued to receive short verbal reports of the damage done. They painted a bleak picture. More casualties came in, including the mutilated corpses of the elder council.

'The next Hokage is going to have his hands full, I am not going to do it, far to troublesome.'

* * *

The next thing Naruto knew was that he was swaying upon a stretcher. The blue sky interrupted time from time by branches of the trees. He groaned as he tried to raise himself, but was soon pushed back down by a hand. He turned his head, and saw his mother's face.

She looked both worried and angry. "Why did you not say you had overused Kyuubi's chakra?" Naruto opened his mouth, stayed silent and closed it again. He thought about it more and concluded "I didn't think about it."

Kushina sighed "Naru-chan" she started to lecture "Overusing Kyuubi's chakra can destroy you. When you overstress you chakra network…" Kushina lectured on, going into the technical details why 'Death by Kyuubi's chakra' is unpleasant. However, somewhere in the back in his mind Naruto could only think 'First time I get lectured by mom' and draw a certain happiness from it.

At the end of the lecture, Kushina not noticing her son was not entirely present during it. He was allowed to walk under the hawkish gaze of his mother. Deeming his recovery acceptable, he soon marched with his mother to Oto, his new home.

Shoton: Senri no Chōjō = Crystal Release: Great wall of a thousand ri (ri = old Chinese measurement of distance 3 wikipedia.)

Author Rant: My Karin will be slightly different… the Canon one just seems to be one huge stab at Naruto.

I know, short chapter. Hopefully a longer one tomorrow.

To all my readers who jumped the gun at the promise: I want to remind you not to jump to conclusions, for all you know, the attempt to spirit away Hinata fails, Naruto goes Emo and finds solace… well perhaps Gurens arms.. or Tayuya says to him 'You need to get laid, shithead' and then drags him to her bed because she has a thing for blond bad boys. The possibilities are endless, and I am one evil writer.

ckirkes2427: I appreciate the reviews and buffing my stats. But perhaps next time you go on an archive binge, save all the comments for the last chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

lightning king/Deathmvp: Next chapter will handle the fallout and reactions, I hope it will be realistic enough.

.3950: Isaribi will be handled later.

Wyrtha: I want to spoiler sooo badly, but I won't. None of the kill teams where successful, something Kushina will be peeved over.

Guest reviewer: I honestly think Sakura's part 1 personality is horrible. Want to say more, but spoiler alert!

ChibakuNaruto: Killing Kakashi with a cheap shot passed my mind, but it wouldn't be believable, and he could be useful later.

Ncpfan: Not sure where Kakashi will end up, but for now he'll stick to denial, acting the same after the kyuubi attack. If he ever moves to 'acceptance' (or lives long enough for that /tease) we will just need to find out.


	18. Chapter 18

The next few days for Naruto where mostly a whirlwind of travelling with the Oto army. Being hugged by his mother whenever he came within arm's reach and talking with Karin. The retreat itself went flawlessly, the forces from Konoha from a nearby outpost quickly moved to evade the army, not attempting to slow them down.

He also met his other sister Tayuya briefly before she had to leave again. Correct to Karin's prediction, she had a foul mouth and a foul nickname assigned to him. He found it amusing the foul mouth evaporated as soon his… no their mother came within hearing range.

Their travels ended in the middle of a forest in the land of sound, formerly known as the land of rice until Orochimaru set up shop. A massive entrance descended into the ground. "Otogakure is underground?" he asked. Karin beside him nodded. "Yes, don't underestimate it because it isn't a big village like Konoha. There multiple other bases in the area, with civilian villages for support and to receive clients. Although not truly hidden, we are harder to find than the big five 'hidden' villages. Although with our rise, it might be the big six soon." She quipped with a smile.

"Not might Karin-chan" Kushina spoke as she sneaked up behind the pair, hugging Naruto. 'Does she always sneak up on us when we are talking?' Naruto couldn't help but wonder. "We will tolerate Konoha joining us in the 'big six' as you put it, but we will reduce it to the traditional five soon."

"Now come on you two, time to show Naru-chan.." Naruto had stopped sighing at the 'cute' name, certain his mother would be calling him that for the rest of his life "… his new room. If I remember correctly, Naru-chan also wants some Uzumaki-grade red hair ne?"

Naruto nodded in confirmation.

They quickly joined the rows of ninja entering the hide out, making good progress as they moved clear to form a path for their leader. Naruto noted his mother commanded genuine respect, and for some, gratitude from the Oto shinobi. Thankfully his mother drew all the attention, he knew that most of Oto knew about the fox he carried, so far he hadn't had a nasty glance, although there was some curiosity, mostly from the females.

Naruto was not sure it was because of the fox, or because they tried to figure out if they could get close to him, and thus to the leader of the village.

He decided to keep his distance for now, and once he got Hinata out of Konoha, he could explore a relationship with her.

They entered the underground base, moving quickly through the throng. As they moved deeper into the base it became quitter. Through some wide open doors he saw labs of all kinds. Some filled with workbenches for metal and wood. Other contained rows upon rows of misty tubes filled with things.

He was soon shown his room. Far larger than his apartment but the same completeness without being overly luxurious. He was then shown around the base by his mother, who took the opportunity to inspect morale and health of her troops.

At the end of the day, he wanted to rest in his room, but his mother dragged him to her own.

"Naru-chan, we have a lot of cuddle time to make up for" she asked almost pleadingly, and Naruto could not find it in himself to deny her.

* * *

Onoki, the old Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure read with certain satisfaction the first rapports his spies managed to write up and send to him about Konoha's invasion by Suna and a newfangled village called Oto.

His first reaction was to rapidly mobilize his forces and finish the job, but it was unknown just how much damage the invasion had done. All he knew the equally old Sandaime Hokage fell in battle, but his replacement was still unknown. Furthermore the status of the two loyal sannin were unknown. An old rapport had Tsunade still drowning her past, while Jiraya was gallivanting, claiming to be running a spy network.

'Stupid youngsters, both of them! They have no clue what it means to be a shinobi' The old kage ranted in his head.

However, all was not well at home. The mercenary group Akatsuki, which usually took the most riskiest missions stopped doing them a year ago, painfully revealing that Iwa over relied on the mercenary group.

And then there was the disappearance of Roshi. The man travelled through the land of Earth and its allied nations to better understand the beast he contained beast. But Onoki knew, despite all his stubbornness, which according to some, was worse than his own 'I am not stubborn you damn youngsters!' Onoki knew if Iwa was going into war, he could be relied on.

But now, he hadn't found a trace of the man for three months, the last time his network 'lost' him, it was only for a month and a half, this was double the time.

Their remaining jinchūriki was Han, who camped out deep in the mountain, detesting humanity to the core. He spirit broke once he was looked upon as a monster when he lost control in his younger days, harming a few fellow ninja. Since then, all the ninja where wary from him, including his own friends.

So disgusted by their behavior, he left Iwa. Onoki decided to let the steam armored man cool off, expecting him to return once he got himself together.

He never did.

Although Onoki thought he could force the man to fight for Iwa again, he would be an unstable ally, something you could not use during the war.

And then there was the unknown Kyuubi jinchūriki, after the yellow flashy bastard used his own life to stuff the Kyuubi away in someone, Hiruzen had publicly announced a yellow haired 'Uzumaki' was the new container. The fence sitter thought it was a foil, despite the genuine mistreatment the boy suffered according to his spies.

It was quite underhanded, not completely Hiruzen's style, but Onoki wasn't one to judge. His latest spy reports had no information on it, but a clash between Suna's transformed Ichibi container against Konoha's Kyuubi one would be noticed. But instead he had his reports claiming Jiraya took care of the Ichibi together with a large summon toad.

He would have to wait on new reports from Suna to see if the Ichibi was taken care of permanently.

So deep in his thoughts, he had not noticed his granddaughter sneak up to him. "You are getting old grandpa, perhaps you should retire and give the hat to someone younger." Onoki whipped up, and with a loud 'cratch' something snapped in his back, causing him to whip forward again with a cry "Aargh, my back!"

Recovering with a glare to his granddaughter, he grounded out "What brings you here Kurotsuchi?" The easy going aura around her disappeared, and she asked seriously "Is it true Konoha was attacked?" Onoki gave a weary nod, already suspecting the impetuous youngster would say next. "Are we going to finish them off?" 'Spot on'

Onoki shook his head "We don't know enough Kurotsuchi, we cannot charge into battle without knowing how strong Konoha is. "the girl frowned, and Onoki sighed. "I am also worried about Roshi" his granddaughter nodded in agreement, aware how important jinchūriki could be.

"So you are going to sit on the fence for now." Kurotsuchi stated. Onoki couldn't help but chuckle at the jab at his title.

* * *

High upon the tower in Kumogakure A, the Yondaime Raikage read through his own set of spy reports. His own slightly sparser than the ones Onoki had.

He had, in hindsight foolishly, discounted the new village, thinking it was another minor village that in respect to the major ones, barely had any power. Only for this minor village to join up with Suna, and give Konoha an respectable smack around he could appreciate.

He did hope Maito Guy survived the invasion, he still wanted to test himself against the man's speed.

Still, the Konoha's Kyuubi container was still unknown, unlike Onoki however, A did not write off Uzumaki Naruto however, well aware thanks to his brother that an Uzumaki contained a Kyuubi before. And having clashed with Namikaze Minato , he saw bits of the yellow flash in the photo's he had of the boy.

However thanks to Hyuuga debacle, should Kumo be caught trying to kidnap children again, nations would be ganging up on Kumo just to protect their own. Kumo furthermore isolated themselves by not allying with minor nations, meaning any hostile nation could quite easily march into Kumo's mountains, damaging the home land on the way.

Capitalizing on Konoha's assault crossed A's mind, by either raiding Konoha or attacking Oto to prevent it become too strong. But the recent upsurge of Akatsuki interference in missions and the killing of high bounty ninja's worried him. He was not aware, nor had any reports of some kind of rebellion against himself of Kumo. But his ninja's where targeted nonetheless by the suspected Iwa aligned group.

The most recent loss worried him the most however, Nii Yugito, container of the Nibi, lost a week ago when he team was ambushed, she heroically held off a pair of S-ranked nin, but failed to escape herself, and was gone by the time an angered Killer Bee with reinforcements made their way to her location, only the large scorch and claw marks indicating she used the full power she had to her command.

Only the parts of a torn cloak they found, bearing the red cloud of Akatsuki showed she had any success resisting her capture or assassination. They were not sure not, unlike the other lost without body ninja taken from Kumo had bounties, Yugito didn't.

Security around Killer Bee already had been strengthened in case they were after the bjuu. Since Nibi was not set onto a rampage towards Kumo, or spotted anywhere else, he still held up hope the girl was alive. But he knew every day without hearing anything, the bigger the chances where she was no longer alive.

A knew if the group had access to a seal master, they might induct the power of Nibi into their group, that was a horrible prospect, and he started to make plans to deal with the group.

* * *

Pain, self-proclaimed god of Amegakure gazed at the plant man called Zetsu. "Report" he intoned. The rest of the group watching on silently.

"Konoha has been attacked by Suna and Oto." Black zetsu spoke "I believe our former companion Orochimaru is no longer alive, the attack was orchestrated by a woman called Uzumaki Kushina." "Incidenly, the same family name as the Kyuubi jinchūriki" White zetsu added unnecessarily

Ignoring the chatter involving artful explosions, sacrifices to a dark god, the lamenting of lost bounties. Uchiha Itachi could not help but worry and wonder. He worried if his brother survived the invasion, and wonder how Kushina, a good friend of his mother, could be alive. And somehow in control of what they thought was Orochimaru's pet village. Now capable of taking on one of the big five.

"Did the Ichibi and Kyuubi jinchūriki survive?" Pain said, cutting through the chatter. "Yes" both parts of the plant man responded. "The Kyuubi jinchūriki went with the Oto forces, but we do not know where he is now."

"Find him" Pain curtly responded. "The rest of you collect bounties or train. The situation is too tense to continue capturing the jinchūriki. And Kumo seems to be aware of our group, avoid the country for now and do not draw more attention."

"Hai Leader-sama" the rest drawled, before disappearing.

* * *

Despite the hectic days around the rebuilding, Iruka managed to organize an get together for his graduating class. Team 8 and 10 where present, and Guy, who heard it, decided his team should come too, in an bizarre display of logic, and not youthfulness, that the fresh genin could more easily relate to those who were not at least 5 years older than them.

Team 7 was however completely absent. Iruka found out through Hana, Kiba's brother, how Sakura met her end, frozen in fear and crushed by a bjuu. Sasuke did not show up, his anti-social behavior having shot up tremendously ever since he ran away from the Ichibi. Verbally attacking anyone who irritated him and seeing himself above the manual work that he genin where assigned to repair the worst of the village.

And then Naruto….

Iruka honestly did not expect Naruto to turn traitor, although rumors were flying that the Otokage was also an Uzumaki, in which case it made sense Naruto would go with someone with his clan. Despite his and Mizuki's best attempts on the third's orders to hide it.

Iruka never understood the order, but he followed it dutifully just like the order he had to make friends with the boy. He was glad that order was off paper, otherwise he'd spent more time with Ibiki then he already had. The man was truly peeved that a young genin managed to fool him, and as his teacher, Iruka was a prime target for a 'conversation' with the man.

'Never again' Iruka thought, shivering.

Of the teachers, only Kurenai was present, having been badly hurt by the Otokage, the woman seemed stuck between pensive, angry and betrayed. The others were already on missions or patrols despite their wounds, trying to project a strong image of an unhurt Konoha to ward off Iwa or Kumo from attacking. Or preventing another sneak attack from Suna and Oto.

Iruka was pleased to note, that despite that most genin had to kill, they were doing quite well, all of them had a clan to fall back to, all of them were unaware that Naruto had betrayed Konoha. Furthermore it seemed Guy's logic was actually true, reminding Iruka to look 'underneath the underneath' about Guy and his excellence as a teacher.

"Iruka-sensei, where is Naruto-baka?" Ino asked. Iruka sighed, he had hoped none of them would ask. "Loser is probably stuck in the hospital after he tripped himself" Kiba muttered. To Iruka's surprise, Neji shot him a glare "If he is a loser, then you are worse than a loser." He spoke in a 'I a better than thou' tone. In his corners of his eyes, Iruka saw Kurenai stiffen to his confusion.

"Naruto turned traitor during the invasion" a voice spoke bluntly behind Iruka, who cringed at the blunt admission, before shivering when he recognized the voice. He turned around slowly and spoke neutrally "Ibiki-san" he allowed a hint of annoyance to slip into his voice "Was it needed to bring the truth out so bluntly?"

Ibiki merely grunted in annoyance "Did any of you speak with Naruto during the third exam matches or the invasion?" he asked directly, raking the group with his eyes. All of them shook their heads, but Ibiki's expert eyes saw the body language betray the young Hyuuga heiress.

He stepped towards Hinata "Are you sure?" threating overtones coming into his voice, drawing a frown from Kurenai. To the rest of team Guy's surprise, Neji suddenly stood protectively next to Hinata. "Are you implying lady Hinata is a liar Ibiki-san?" he spoke neutrally. Hinata surprised, couldn't help but softly whisper "Neji-nii"

Ibiki narrowed his eyes at the boy for ruining his chance. 'Il get the girl sooner or later' He once again raked the group with his eyes. "If any of you suddenly remember something, find me" he grounded out as he glared at the Hyuuga girl, he whirled around dramatically before stomping out.

Iruka sighed, he could understand Ibiki's reason to gun for the girl, it was well known in the class she had a crush on the boy, but he never noticed . As the genin started to try to process that one of their classmates had turned traitor, most of them flabbergasted. 'Actually it isn't that surprising, considering his own class treated him like an loser and an outcast.' Iruka mused as the subject of Naruto reminded him how few bonds the boy had with the village.

Neji frowned as he saw Hinata just listen to the conversations. He had quickly concluded despite being a traitor of Konoha, his words still rang true. 'I had heard she had a crush on him, she seems unaffected. Did she know?' he asked himself. 'She wouldn't harm Konoha' he decided. Knowing her kind hearted personality would not allow innocent people to get hurt.

Iruka sighed as the genin switched topic's from their wayward classmate to the rumors Ino had heard about the new Hokage, the Sandaime haven fallen in battle.

Without the elders, choosing a new Hokage would be either done by the Daimyo, who already clearly stated that figuring out this mess was in Konoha's hands. Stating he would be far too busy to prepare his country for war.

After digging into the older Konoha's laws, the responsibility of choosing a new Hokage fell to the clan leaders making up Konoha. Although the major clan leaders survived, they usually had to deal with damage to their their compounds, either by the attacks, or the assassins out for their heads.

In the end however, yesterday evening it was announced in the higher ranks that Danzo the warhawk would take office until Tsunade of the sannin was retrieved to become Hokage.

* * *

Tobi narrowed his eyes as Zetsu gave him a more complete rapport. Despite his best attempts, the revolution against his puppet Mizukage where gaining more momentum the day. Granted, it would take another year if no outside help came, the sheer strength of his puppet slowing the rebels down.

However it would still mean another delay of a year to two years thanks to the time it would take Sanbi, sealed inside his puppet to reform. And that was on top of the delay caused thanks to a supposedly dead woman's assault on Konoha, setting all nations on edge, and holding their containers close to their chest.

"First you steal a ring from me Orochimaru, and now you are involved training the one in delaying my plans" he spoke to the thin air, brooding how he would get revenge on the snake-sannin's successor.

AN: Oh hey, unexpected opportunity to show Neji's change and to set a big bad bear on his next target, will he be on time this time? (Remember what I said about jumping the gun prev chapter? Bwhahahaha)

Tormound: Hah, objective complete *evil smirk* I am aiming to make Karin a curious 'happy' girl to counterpoise the more canon foulmouthed Tayuya. Family dinners are going to be fun! :P

Homarid: Skirting around the Tayuya/Naruto encounter for now.

Ncpfan: Considering how canon Kabuto acts, I just could not imagine him loyal. I considered going around it subtly, but I decided it would make a good showing that Kushina/Oto is not perfect.

Wyrtha: For Suna it's a complete victory, their jobs will be returned, with a chance of increase by the smacking Konoha got from them with lighter losses than expected. For Oto it's a partial victory, they did their damage, got Naruto, but the amount of leadership damage is limited (Danzo survived, Clan leaders survived) and infrastructure damage is not total. (Hokage tower for example). There is no way Konoha can spin this as an victory, not one, but two nations managed to sneak up to their front door, break it open, slap the owner silly, before running away unpunished.

Samm91: And old veteran like Hiruzen deserves to go down swinging if the situation allows it.


	19. Chapter 19

Several days later at Oto

Naruto loved his mother, he really did. But spending the last few days effectively joined at her hip started to grate on him. As interesting it is to see his mother run her village, experiment on some poor criminal. 'I still need to get used to that.' He thought on the grisly sight. Or training with her on the use of his chains, his fight with Neji complete dissected like the aforementioned criminal. Naruto wanted some alone time.

So when he mother sat down again for her daily slog of paperwork involving assigning her people to high ranked missions, logistics, spy reports and other stuff that made Naruto's head spin, he seized his chance to escape. He did not even have some privacy in the bath, his mother calmly walking in like its normal, wanting to wash him because she couldn't when he was a baby. Completely ignoring his embarrassed protests. Naruto planned to make a runner if she walked in again this evening.

'But now to escape mom first' Naruto thought. "Mom, I am going to explore Oto for a bit." He stated, walking without hesitation towards the door. He did not see the raised eyebrow from his mother.

"I showed you around didn't I?" she asked.

Naruto held back the 'Where I can find you or Karin' that lay on his tongue. Instead he said "I want to look around myself." as he turned around.

He saw something flash in Kushina's eyes before she nodded. "Be careful Naru-chan." Naruto walked out, frown on his face 'I am inside your own secret hidden base underground…' he thought. He started to wonder through the long hallways, peeking into rooms time from time. Somewhere for training, others led to sleeping areas. He spotted a couple of new eating areas with different food, as much as he liked ramen like his mother, he still preferred some variety.

He once again peeked into another room, this time he saw a fairly small room compared to the other ones. Something was inscribed into the walls, a single person at the far side of the room. Curiosity increasing, he silently walked into the room.

As he came closer, he saw names inscribed on the wall with two dates. In a flash came understanding, this was Oto's memorial stone, where the name of the fallen where inscribed. He glanced to the side where the person, a girl.. an oddly familiar one stood silently sobbing, her fingers tracing a pair of names.

He silently moved in closer to read them, trying to identify the girl. "Abumi Zaku" "Kinuta Dosu" Naruto read, drawing a surprised gasp that turned the attention from the girl to him. The girls eyes widened in surprise, before she stepped back bowing "Uzumaki-sama" she spoke formerly.

Naruto started to fidget awkwardly, not used to people suddenly showing him respect. "Just call me Naruto please" he said. The girl stood back up, unsure what to do. Trying to break the silence, Naruto asked bluntly. "How did they die?" The girls face fell again, causing Naruto to wish he kept his mouth.

After a moment of silence, she turned back towards the names, speaking softly "We had an sabotage and explosive note planting mission." She paused, stuck in memories. "The sabotage went perfectly, but towards our targets to plant the notes we ran into a jonin… they both jumped on him , telling me to go on… and I went." The girl slumped into herself.

"I should have fought and died with them" she said after a moment of silence.

Naruto's mind whirled, completely out of his depth, suddenly words came to him. "When a person… has something important they want to protect… that's when they can become truly strong. They I wanted to protect the person important to them." He echoed, using and slightly changing Haku's words.

Her head whipped back towards him, her eyes wide, before they softened again, she touched the names, smiling softly. "You are right… they really cared… sorry Zaku, Dosu.. you wouldn't want me to mope would you?"

She bowed to Naruto "Thank you for your wisdom Naruto-sama" Naruto blinked, but by the time he recovered, she was already gone.

As he stood silently in the tribute to the dead, he couldn't help but replay Haku's words in his mind. Back then he had written them off, not truly believing them. But between Haku's actions, those of Zaku and Dosu, and now that he had genuinely something to fight for, he couldn't help but to find the truth in them.

Roaming his eyes over all the names, she spoke softly. "I will protect those important to me, I finally found the people who care about me.. mom, Karin.. Tayuya when I know her better…Guren… and so many more I still have to meet here. I will become strong to keep them safe."

With a final nod, he turned around and left the room. His conviction strengthened with his new goal.

* * *

Kushina scowled, displeased with Onoki. 'Couldn't that fence sitter not at least give a prod?' she rambled in her own mind. 'Konoha would be now less inclined to strengthen their north western borders, they might have enough manpower to spare to invade the land of sound.'

Somebody knocked on her office door "Come in" she spoke with authority, expertly hiding her disappointment when a messenger came in, handing her the latest spy reports in the land of fire. 'Naruto must still be exploring around' Kushina thought as she flipped open the report. 'Am I pulling him too hard towards me?' she asked herself. Well aware of Naruto's discomfort whenever she washed him or dragged him around the base.

She then read "Shimura Danzo has become temporary Hokage until Tsunade is found." Kushina blinked once, blinked twice. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU SURVIVE DATTABANE!" she exploded in her office, her normally well reigned in temper flaring up, her usually well hidden verbal tick showing itself.

'I stabbed him right in the heart, if that didn't get him the poisons on Kusanagi would!' she raged in her mind as she paced through the office. 'Would he somehow have gotten me with a genjutsu?' she sorted through her memories of the encounter 'He never made handseals, and would not have time to use some kind of seal. Only the sharingan could…cast…genjutsu. Of course…' she felt like slapping herself. The warhawk had no problems selling her off to get mokuton replacement arm, robbing a couple of Uchiha corpses for their eyes would not be below him. 'He probably replaced that blind eye of his then, perhaps some expert made see through seals, that way the eye managed to hypnotize me, I thought I had stabbed him, but I didn't… dammit.' She theorized.

With an huff she sat back down again. As she read through her reports, she saw that her assassination teams completely failed, narrowing her eyes again in anger. 'How or why did they fail, did we underestimate the strength of the clan leaders or did we lack information?' she grit her teeth before forcing herself to calm down.

'Right, not the time to start making more mistakes just because I had to angry' she told herself.

Another person knocked on the door, letting the messenger in again "Reports from Kumo Otokage-sama" the man spoke, getting a raised eyebrow from Kushina "They are early." She stated, the man nodded "I was told you would understand once you read them ma'am."

Kushina took the reports and flipped them open, laying the Fire country ones to the side. This time she raised her eyebrow again. 'Somebody is mauling the high bounty ninja of Kumo… and took the Nibi Jinchūriki.' After a moment of thought 'Must be Akatsuki, Kakuzu with whatever partner he kept alive for now if Orochimaru's notes about his rage must be believed. '

She frowned further 'I need to tell Naruto about Akatsuki, he will distrust me if I don't.. but how do you tell your son roughly ten S-ranked ninja are out for your tailed beast sealed inside you.' She blinked with realization 'Orochimaru never knew the true goal of Akatsuki, just that they were going to collect tailed beasts.'

Kushina's eyebrows knitted in concentration 'So far I know, they most likely got the four tailed beast container and two tailed container, neither beast has been spotted. So they have not been set free, did they plan to reseal the beasts into themselves? Or do they want something more…' Kushina suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

'Naruto is on talking terms with the fur ball, the thing.. he I only growled and shouted at me, but perhaps Naruto could ask why somebody would want all nine beasts. I can't imagine sealing more than one beast in a person would be survivable. '

Kushina sighed. "At least Akatsuki's actions caused the muscle mountain to back off, I don't have to increase patrols to worry about incursions from the land of lightning." She spoke to herself. She closed the Kumo rapports and went back to the ones of the land of fire, and was glad to see after the initial bad news, the rest of the invasion did the damage expected, forcing Konoha to buy weapons and food from the outside, paying massive amounts of money.

'I need to find some missing-nin groups to assault the convoys.' She noted to herself, planning her next stage of keeping Konoha from assaulting Oto until it was ready to repel the leafs might.

* * *

By the time Kushina was done planning, Naruto returned from his chat with the girl, his thoughts still pensive.

"Ah, There you are Naru-chan, follow me to the training ground" Kushina said as she picked up a bunch of files, guiding Naruto to the closest training ground which was empty. "Now Naruto, sit down." The lack of nickname instantly caught Naruto's attention. "There is something you need to know." Kushina started bluntly. "There is a group called Akatsuki, it is composed of roughly eight to ten missing-nin of S-rank."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, but before he could ask. "They are hunting all of the nine tailed beasts, two of your fellow containers already have been caught. The two tails and four tails container." Naruto was aware he stood no chance against a S-rank ninja "So what do I do? Stay hidden underground for the rest of my life?" he asked with some distaste.

Kushina sighed in her mind, if she had her way, she would. But she was certain Naruto would stir crazy, she would.

"No, you are going to train smart and hard. For now you seem to be a bit too young to use the shadow clone technique to your advantage. And I'd rather not have my son brain dead. "Naruto nodded his agreement. "Here are the files of members I know about thanks to Orochimaru, however he has left the group a long time ago. You can recognize them from the black cloaks with red clouds on them."

Naruto nodded, and quickly scanned his way through the files while Kushina pitched in extra information where she could. "These… are dangerous people" Naruto concluded. "Yes, they are" Kushina agreed. She stared straight in Naruto's eyes. "I am not going to lock you up here as much as I want to, but the moment you see one of them, run straight back home. Understood."

Naruto frowned "What about my team?" "They are of no interest to Akatsuki unless they run into Kakuzu and have a bounty on their heads. Which most Oto members don't." Naruto slowly nodded.

"Now, I need you to talk to Kyuubi and ask him the following." Naruto tilted his head in curiosity, he swore he heard his mother murmur a 'kawaii' before she spoke up again. "Ask him what somebody would gain by gathering all the tailed beasts." Kushina was silent for a moment "Inform him that I suspect that the masked man that attacked the night of your birth might be part of that group, he did state he wanted Kyuubi."

Seeing Naruto's curious look at the last part "It is a suspicion, I have no proof, but the man was strong enough for that group, perhaps he died during the meantime, or we know less about the group than we thought."

Naruto sat down, and started to channel a sliver Kyuubi's chakra. 'Kyuubi?' he called out in his mind, but it stayed silent. He called again, but nothing happened. He frowned. "He is not responding, I need to go into the seal." Kushina frowned, but nodded.

* * *

Inside the seal

Naruto quickly made it through the familiar hallway, splashing his way through. He soon made it into the enormous room, on the other side he saw the fox sleeping on its paws.

Naruto stood indecisively, waking up the fox would result in him dealing with a cranky fox, but his mother's question was a good one. He decided to risk it "Kyuubi" he spoke. And eye bigger than Naruto shot open. "**Do you need my power already again?**" the beast grumbled.

Naruto shook his head. "I need your wisdom Kyuubi." This clearly raised Kyuubi's interest, whose other eye shot upon, his ears subtly shifting to hear Naruto better. "**Ask**" the beast grumbled. "My mother suspects that the man that hypnotized you during that night is part of a group called Akatsuki…." He was cut off by the fox. "**Then destroy that group!**" the fox growled.

Naruto shook his head. "We don't know where they are." This elicited another growl from Kyuubi. "This group has as a mission to collect all the tailed beasts for some unknown reason." The growl suddenly stopped.

"**They wouldn't**" Kyuubi said softly. Naruto eyes shot open by the un-Kyuubi behavior Kyuubi was displaying. "What?" he asked. "**You humans would not be crazy enough to unleash the beast my father could not defeat.**" Kyuubi shook his head. "**Leave me**" the fox said abruptly.

Naruto blinked by the sudden change, he did notice the respect Kyuubi held for his father, before he remembered a question he had for Kyuubi since the meet up with Gaara, but always forgot thanks to other things.

"The sand siblings called Ichibi 'Shukaku'… what is your name Kyuubi?" Naruto asked.

Another growl from the fox told Naruto he was in no mood to answer.

* * *

Training ground.

Naruto opened his eyes again, his shirt suddenly lifted while his mother inspected the seal. "Mom?" he asked surprised. She smiled in return. "Sorry Naruto, but I wanted to make sure the seal was functioning correctly." Naruto nodded hesitantly, his distrust kicking from his years in Konoha before he reined it back in. "So what did Kyuubi say?" Kushina asked, unaware of Naruto short inner struggle.

"Aside from demanding that I destroy Akatsuki, not much… only that they 'wouldn't do something that would unleash the beast his father could not defeat', there was something like respect in his voice for this 'father'."

Kushina eyes widened in surprise "Father? Beast?" she asked, before sighing. "I need to read up on the old legends, perhaps there is an hint on what kind beast. Although whoever Kyuubi's father was, must be a strong being if you are right that Kyuubi respects him." She sighed "Try to get more out of him later when you think you can."

"Now, it is time for another training session, you need to become strong enough to fight them off." Kushina spoke cheerily. Naruto smiled, ready for some more real training with his mother, every session he felt his skills increasing with her.

A week later

Jiraya smiled as he finally had a lead on Tsunade, after Hiruzen died and the initial post-invasion chaos, the different clan heads tried to nominate him as Hokage. Jiraya had no interest in the job, despite training a damn good student for it in his own opinion. He suggested that Tsunade, his teammate as a Senju would take over.

Of course Hiruzen's old friend Danzo protested, correctly stating she had not been in Konoha for ages. But with a laugh and a joke Jiraya somehow managed to lay those worries to the side. It did not stop Danzo from becoming temporary Hokage.

Jiraya did not like it, but he had to agree that somebody would need to fill the post during the crisis incase Iwa or Kumo became opportunistic, thankfully through his spy network he found out both where hesitating for unknown reasons.

"Now, off to Tanzaku." He said as he took off, never noticing the courtesan he just drank with had an sound note tattoo on her hip.

AN: Raise your hand if you predicted me killing two minor characters off-screen. Naruto's motto to protect those important to him is something that defines his character, so in my fic, he obtains it a bit later when he has people to protect.

Rest of the chapter is a bit of meh imho, but important info (again).

Although not shown in canon how much info or how deep Oro-man had Akatsuki. In this case he never knew some members where based in Ame. Saves me an excuse for Kushina not to send an hoard of spies towards it.

chim3ra1988: I won't go into details, but this won't be a fic where every redhead is automatically an Uzumaki. Honestly, I had not thought about Honoka… perhaps I will work her into the plotline, thank you for reminding me.

Wyrtha: Reply in your PM. Long reviews make to long replies for the AN. (I like long reviews however!)

dbtiger63: She will certainly train him, I won't be writing much training scenes though, they are boring in my opinion. And ah.. Kabuto… kukukuku

ncpfan: Iruka isn't really in a position to guilt trip others. However that doesn't mean the next time somebody of the present teams run into Naruto…

No clue how I am going to murder off Tobi, it kinda depends on how the canon ends.

Tomorrow there won't be an update, the upcoming confrontation is important, and I need to make sure I got everything in order before I commit.


	20. Chapter 20

Kushina smiled slightly at the emergency dispatch from one of her spy handlers, ever since she had received the news that Konoha was looking for Tsunade, she set her own spies on the loose, however most of her spies where centered around military or civilian targets, so Tsunade successfully escaped her gaze and network.

Thankfully, the buffoon that was Jiraya talked to a courtesan, who in turn realized the relevance, the woman would be well rewarded.

Denying Tsunade from Konoha would be a hard a blow. As one of the best medics, if not _the _best, Tsunade would be able to increase the amount of ninja returning to duty, and lessen the casualties once Konoha would come to blows with either the Oto/Suna alliance or Iwa.

Recruiting Tsunade to work for Oto would be harder, but Kushina was confident she could do it. 'It does mean I have to go personally however. That means leaving Naruto at the base.' She thought with a frown, before cheering up 'Or I could take him with me and teach him summoning.'

Kushina rose from her office seat and headed towards the training ground, suspecting Naruto would be trying to perfect his Fūton: Daitoppa jutsu. 'I need to find him a teacher for his wind nature' Kushina thought with a frown. 'None of them come to the top of my head however.. it is a rare nature… perhaps I can get someone from Suna.'

She heard a shout of "Fūton: Daitoppa!" and saw her son launching a well concentrated cylinder of energy, flinging the target dummies against the wall, cracking the wood that made them. "I see you are improving Naru-chan" she spoke encouragingly. He turned around and smiled "Thanks mom. Another training session?" he asked hopefully.

She shook her head. "No, a mission. Do you know who Senju Tsunade is?" Naruto nodded "One of the three sannin. She is a medic if I remember correctly?" Kushina smiled "Correct Naru-chan. She is an excellent medic, far better than Kabuto or Karin, although Kabuto will most likely disagree with me. She also summons slugs to aid her with that."

Naruto nodded attentively. "Now Tsunade is a far removed cousin of ours. Uzumaki Mito is her grandmother, who was related to my mother." Naruto tilted his head. "Is that why she left Konoha?" Kushina shook her head. "She left after her lover died in her hands during the second war." She saw Naruto's frown. "In her mind Konoha claimed a lot from her, her brother, her husband to be and perhaps more we don't know about."

"I have information Jiraya is trying to find her too, she is to become the next Hokage. We are going to prevent that by convincing her to come to Oto instead." "You think we can do that?" Naruto asked unsure 'Sounds like that woman has issues if she has avoided Konoha for so long.' He frowned "Why do you need me?"

Kushina chuckled "We need to discredit Jiraya before moving to our arguments. Il will explain those later." Naruto nodded "Should it come to blows however, stay away from the fighting understood. The sannin are far above your level." Naruto nodded again, the way he was manhandled by Jiraya fresh in his memories. 'I won't be making that mistake again'

"We will leave in a couple of hours understood? Tell Karin we will both be gone, I'll inform Kimimaro to look after Oto with Karin while I am busy." "Kimimaro?" Naruto asked, unaware of this apparently important person. "He is a member of the Kaguya clan, he is a couple years older. Il introduce the two of you before we leave."

"Alright mom, see you in a couple of hours" Naruto spoke before he ran off to find his sister. 'She is probably in a lab looking at one thing or the other' Naruto thought with a roll of his eyes. Unlike his mother or Karin, he had nothing with all the scientist stuff despite having watched his mother at work. Apparently a sentiment he shared with Tayuya.

"Karin?" He called out carefully, in case she was doing something explosive. She stopped peeking into the microscope "Naruto?" she asked. "What brings you to the lab?" "Mom and I are going to recruit Tsunade." Karin blinked "Senju Tsunade, best medic of the elemental nations?" Naruto nodded. His shoulders where suddenly gripped tight by Karin, her eyes boring into his own. "Do Not Fail" she said icily

Naruto gulped by the sudden 180 personality change his sister suddenly did. The normally happy warm girl staring at him she would murder him at the mere mention of failure. "Yes Karin" he stuttered out. She gave him a firm nod before releasing. "I can't wait to discuss all kinds of medical things with her" she said cheerily as she went back to the thing she was working on. "Uuh… Mom mentioned you'd be looking after Oto with Kimimaro." Karin simply waved it off "Got it, expected mom to do that. Have fun!"

Naruto, message delivered, advanced backwards, rapidly. Before his sister could switch personality again.

Two hours later he stood at the main entrance, and saw his mother approaching with a pale skinned, gray-haired man in tow. He had two red dots above his green eyes. "Ah, Naru-chan. This is Kimimaro. Kimimaro this is my son Naruto." Kimimaro bowed "I am honored to meet you Naruto-sama." She spoke formally. Naruto withheld the urge to sigh. "Glad to meet you Kimimaro-san." Naruto responded informally, but failed to get a reaction out of the stoic Kaguya.

Guren soon joined the group. "Kushina-sama, Naruto" she greeted. "Guren" Naruto responded warmly to the woman, haven spoken with her a couple times after arriving at Oto. Kushina handed Kimimaro several seal tags. "Use those to summon a messenger snake should something untoward happen during these tense times Kimimaro." She narrowed her eyes. "Do not afraid to alert me when you are in the slightest doubt understood?"

"Understood Kushina-sama" Kimimaro responded with a bow, accepting the tags like they were holy relics. With a nod, she send the man away. "Alright, Guren, Naruto. We are heading towards Tanzaku. It is in fire country, so we need to cross the border in a rapid pace. Afterwards we will not have much time to rest. Jiraya has to travel further, but he has several days of travelling time ahead of us."

Naruto and Guren nodded. "We will spend the rest of today heading towards the border. Before we leave however…" Kushina bit her thumb, and formed handsigns. Soon a white snake poofed into existence. The snake wore a pointy hat of sorts and was smoking through a long cigarette holder.

"Sage-sama" Kushina greeted with respect. "Kushina-chan" the snake responded with warmth. "It is time for your son to sign the contract?" he asked, waving a large scroll he held with the tip of his long body. Kushina nodded "Show me the boy" the snake demanded. Kushina gestured for Naruto to step forward.

The sage-snake encircled the boy once, before rising its head on eye level with Naruto, boring into his eyes. "I approve, he has a fire in his eyes and his mind is cunning." He expertly whipped open the contract with his tail. "Write your name in blood next to your mother's." The sage ordered. Naruto glanced at his mother, who nodded. He quickly did so.

"It has been signed" the sage intoned. Before giving a final nod and disappearing in a puff of smoke. "Congratulations Naruto" Guren said, Kushina merely smiled. "I will explain you the theory and how to use snakes inside battlefield and out on as we travel. We will practice summoning them once we are back, we can't afford you accidently giving away our location by summoning Aoda, the snake boss."

Naruto nodded, understanding. Although he was a bit disappointed inside he couldn't try his hand at summoning.

The group set off, Kushina talking the entire way about the advantages and disadvantages of the snake summons. Guren plodded along silently, her own thoughts absorbed about her own adoptive son and how he entered the final year in training to become a genin.

* * *

The group infiltrated the borders of the land of fire with ease. Konoha's troops far to stretched to properly guard the borders directly to the land of sound, the majority of the troops they had available for patrol focused around the land of grass and reinforcing the Taki patrols.

Thus, four days later Kushina, Guren and Naruto made it to Tanzaku. Overlooking the walled town, Kushina spoke "Guren, you are an unknown for Jiraya and whoever he has." She quickly summoned a tiny snake "Send this little one back should you find Tsunade, Naruto and I will skirt around to see if there are any signs of Tsunade leaving. I doubt she would however, she is chronic gambler, and there is that gambling event happening."

Guren nodded, hid her headband and set off toward the city, hiding the snake in her clothing. Naruto and Kushina set off, slowly circling around the city, they made it roughly a quarter way through before they heard a loud rumbling sound, like the earth was being crushed open.

With a nod, the pair headed towards the area the sound came from "Naruto" Kushina spoke seriously "Don't speak understood?" Naruto looked quizzically, but nodded. Kushina summoned another snake after another leap "Find the crystal smelling woman inside the town and tell her to head here." She ordered. The snake shot off towards the town.

The pair suddenly leaped into a clearing, roughly in the center of it was a familiar tall, spikey long haired man. On the other side of him was an irritated blond woman, the ground cracked beneath her feet. To her side was a worried black haired young woman who looked apprensive.

"Era era, if it isn't Jiraya" Kushina spoke. Jiraya whirled around to face her, narrowing his eyes. "So it is true. I still cannot believe the wife of my student attacked Konoha." Kushina chuckled "I haven't been his wife in 13 years Jiraya, not since he decided to make my baby boy into the next jinchūriki."

Tsunade looked confused at the interplay and interrupted Jiraya who was about to respond "Who are you?" she asked. "Uzumaki Kushina, and this is my son Uzumaki Naruto." Tsunade blinked "Uzumaki?" she asked softly. "Don't believe them Tsunade, that woman killed sensei!"

"Era era, telling another half-truth Jiraya?"She turned to Tsunade "A spinning whirlpool greets the gowing tree, may the whirlpool stay strong, and the tree grow great." Jiraya looked confused for a moment before he figured it out, muttering a curse under his breath. Tsunade gaped in surprise.

"You see, your dear teammate Jiraya here lied to you about Uzushiogakure's fall, didn't you Jiraya?" Kushina mocked, Jiraya started to sweat. "After all, Tsunade's grandmother did not die of old age did she?" "What do you mean?!" Tsunade demanded, but before Kushina could respond Jiraya bellowed

"Enough of your lies!" he leapt back, weaving through a short set of handseals "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" and in a large poof of smoke, Gamabunta arrived. Kushina leapt back, dragging Naruto with her. She released her son and quickly mimicked Jiraya. Aoda, the snake summon boss appearing coiled up, ready to strike, Kushina and Naruto on his head.

"Jiraya, why did you summon me!" Gamabunta bellowed "What do you wish from me missstresss" Aoda asked politely. "Aoda, can you handle Gamabunta?" Kushina asked her snake. "I would require asssssistance" the snake replied, slightly lowering his head. Gamabunta narrowed his eyes "I would expect to be facing Manda" the toad said to Jiraya.

Kushina decided to answer the toad "Manda has been dead for a while. I will be helping you Aoda, Naruto, hold on tight."

While the summons prepared to rumble, Tsunade and her apprentice, Shizune rapidly backpedaled. 'She was a true Uzumaki, she knew the old clan greetings.' Tsunade thought furiously.

The busty blonde was quite confused, she was approached earlier the day by Jiraya, who confirmed the rumors she heard Konoha was attacked, claiming the life of her old sensei Sarutobi. After receiving the news, she thanked the pervert and left, only for the pervert to follow her and bring her news that made her very unhappy.

Apparently it was decided she would become the 5th Hokage. Something Tsunade had no intention to become, she did not want to lay down her life for the village that had taken everything from her, her lover, her baby, her brother, her family.

'What did that woman mean with Jiraya telling half-truths? What did he hide from me, why would he hide it from me?' she kept thinking as the pair gained more distance, her apprentice shooting her worried glances she ignored all the way.

Behind them Aoda struck forward before Gamabunta could draw his tanto. Forcing the toad into a hurried block with the sheathed blade. The snake ducked under the toads clumsy counter punch, quickly enveloping the toad. On top of the toads head, Jiraya quickly formed handseals. "Katon: Endan!"

He quickly spat a large bullet of flaming oil towards the side of the snake, who quickly loosened its hold to escape the worst, the technique to close and too fast for Kushina to counter. Gamabunta used this opportunity to break free, drawing his tanto. Forcing Aoda to retreat lest he be cut up.

The snake slithered around, probing for a weak point in Gamabunta's defense. On its head, Kushina send Naruto to the sidelines, who did that without protest, painfully realizing he was out of his league again.

As the summons went for another round, their respective summoners started to fling fire jutsu at each other, their summons either dodging or blocking the attacks. Tsunade started to lose her patience, with a quick set of handsigns, she slammed her palm into the ground.

In a storm of smoke, a gigantic white-blue slug appeared. Tsunade and Shizune standing on top of her head. The toad and the snake took no notice however, and neither did their summoners. Tsunade's eyebrow twitched at being ignored, usually people take notice when a building sized slug appears out thin air.

"Katsuyu, use your acid to split them apart." "Hai Tsunade-sama" the slug spoke respectfully, before suddenly spitting a steam of acid with a "Zesshi Nensan!"

The acid arced towards the battling combatants, who saw the dark yellow substance falling towards them. Gamabunta leapt back while Aoda rapidly slithered underground. Kushina leaping far, to land on top of Aoda's resurfacing head as the ground behind them was dissolved into a steaming slag.

"Katsuyu! What is the meaning of this!" Gamabunta bellowed offended. "My apologies, my master ordered it Gamabunta**-**san." Katsuyu responded. Aoda slithered warily, slowly making some more distance between the pair, knowing well enough the last time they were together, Manda was attacked by both.

Guren meanwhile joined Naruto hiding in the trees, exchanging terse greetings as they watched warily. 'Dammit, why didn't mom teach me how to summon, I could send her help otherwise' Naruto thought frustrated.

"What. Is. Going. On. Here." The blonde sannin grounded out. Her temper causing her to wish she could ground the Uzumaki woman and her teammate into paste to stop the headache she knew was coming up.

Unaware to all those present, there were more observers than just Naruto and Guren.

AN: Urg, it's that I needed Guren, otherwise she would have over watch duty. Kimi is a bit older because of that (Although most named Oto shinobi are quite…young… Oro-pedo? :P)

chim3ra1988: Naruto might get upgrades in the future.

Guest: Good to see Kushina/Naruto interaction is believable. Kushina has plans, plans which will initiate after the Tsunade 'arc'. Anko will stay off-screen for a while longer, she will have kicked ass when she comes back ;)

Deathmvp: Still working on how I will work out the shadow clone stuff. No need to hurry, yet….

Wyrtha: They got vague hints, but no forewarning yet, will they find out on time… who knows…

ckirkes2427: I considerd doing it, but they aren't 'Important' enough. (And it's a pain to write)

It's still Friday in my timezone. The Tsunade conflict was hard to write, not sure how many secrets and hints I wanted to give away. Furthermore I wanted to find a balance between fighting and talking.


	21. Chapter 21

Tsunade's interruption had halted the battle, giving the participants a chance to talk on top of their giant summons. "You!" Tsunade pointed towards Kushina "What did that pervert of a teammate hide from me?" "Don't believe her Tsunade!" Jiraya shouted again from on top of Gamabunta.

"Era era, where to start… let's begin with Mito-sama" Kushina spoke. "My grandmother?" Kushina nodded. "Your grandmother passed on after she entrusted the Kyuubi into me when I was six. I think she wished to keep Kyuubi out of certain people's hands." Tsunade's eyes widened, before whipping towards Jiraya. "You knew?!" she hissed. Jiraya grimaced, one of the few cats in the bag he had towards Tsunade out in the open. "You knew my grandmother had asked me to look after the next container before I set off into that war!" Tsunade shouted. "Sensei knew too…." She suddenly added, anger turning into confusion.

Kushina raised her eyebrow "Well that certainly would have made my first few years in Konoha less lonely." Tsunade looked angry towards Jiraya, daring him to explain, he met her gaze for a few seconds before folding. 'I need to salvage this situation. ' Jiraya thought. "I did" he spoke in grave tone. "You were still angry with Konoha, you would have taken her. She was far too young for that." Kushina snorted "Not going to use the 'Konoha needed its weapon?' excuse Jiraya?"

Tsunade looked shocked, Kushina seeing this, decided to twist the knife deeper "That is what your sensei used Tsunade" "Don't believe her Tsunade, she killed sensei and attacked the leaf!" Jiraya shouted. Kushina nodded "I did indeed, blood has to be repaid by blood, but I suppose you hid that from Tsunade too didn't you Jiraya?" Tsunade rapidly looked between the pair.

"Well Jiraya, are you going to tell Tsunade or should I?" Kushina asked with a wicked smile. Jiraya grimaced, another cat out of the bag, he just hoped it was one of the lesser ones. "Must have been hard to tell your teammate her village, the same village that let her loved ones die did not send any help to her cousin clan." Kushina mocked. "Why should they? I mean it's not they had an ancient alliance thanks to the Senju that the Uzumaki honored to the best of their abilities…." She said sarcastically.

"It was a grim situation at the end of the second war, Kiri from the south, Kumo from the north. Uzumaki forces depleted thanks to the aid they send against Iwa, and the subsequent mauling they took there." Kushina recounted "Instead of sending troops, Konoha just stood there and watched. And lied to my face about it."

Jiraya growled in anger, and snapped out "How did you find out!?" Tsunade's shot Jiraya an horrified betrayed look 'Dammit!' he cursed to himself for letting his anger slip that out. Kushina chuckled 'Another point for me' "I was quite a prankster in my younger days. Just like my son, I broke into the Hokage office. Large troop movements are documented, and what a surprise, I didn't find any towards Uzu before its fall."

She narrowed her eyes "I did not know at the time, but I found out later that Uzu lasted long enough for a messenger to make it to Konoha. It was then I swore I would get even with Sarutobi." She sighed "Minato nearly made me forgot you know, but than that bastard sealed Kyuubi into Naru-chan without even listening to me."

"Minato did the right thing, he had to protect Konoha!" Kushina snorted at the defense "And if you care about Konoha so much, why didn't you look after your godson Jiraya" Jiraya huffed "I am sure sensei was looking after him" "I knew you were a terrible 'spymaster' Jiraya, but this is just sad" Kushina mocked "Hated by nearly everyone in Konoha, he had no training, his legacy denied, even knowledge about his clan was hidden. Konoha truly trampled over the Uzumaki's legacy, while having the gall to wear our clans symbol on their backs!" Kushina ranted at the end.

Tsunade looked aghast at her teammate 'He lied to me! He let that boy life alone, hated, while he was entrusted to look after him!' where her foremost thoughts. Kushina smirked inwardly at the expression 'And now for the final blow' Changing tack suddenly to keep Jiraya off-guard "And even if you managed to drag Tsunade back to that hellhole Jiraya, do you really think Danzo would allow her to become Hokage."

"He has no choice, I made sure of that." Jiraya spoke firmly. Kushina smirked outwardly now "Do you even know that he replaced his arm with an mokuton implant than?" Before either sannin could speak, Kushina ploughed on "Do you really think he would allow the last senju free reign to find out her grandfather's grave has been plundered thrice?"

"Thrice?!" Tsunade echoed shocked.

"And that's not counting the sharingan eye he has." Kushina finished. "What do you mean with thrice!" Tsunade demanded "Why, Once by Kabuto on Orochimaru's orders, once by Danzo for his arms, and once by Orochimaru on Hiruzen's orders." Taking in Tsunades shocked face 'And that should do it' Kushina thought with a hidden victory smile.

Jiraya turned enraged. "You lie! Bunta, get her!" Gamabunta, having kept his peace during the conversation, intent to find out the truth from his summoner later, sprang into action, leaping forward, tanto held high. Aoda sprung to the side, dodging the earth crushing blow. As Gamabunta committed to the attack, Kushina started growing two massive chains, one in each hand.

Gamabunta landed, and Kushina swung her chains forward, rapidly entrapping the toad within. With a pull, she tightened the chains, crushing Gamabunta who dispersed, Jiraya using the time the toad bought to get clear of the crushing chains, who went up in flames with their task complete.

He immediately went into the defensive as Kushina came in with a flying leap, Aoda dispersing behind her. With her other leg she kicked herself away from Jiraya, she quickly met his rapid counter attack, she danced or diverted his direct toad-style taijutsu, attempting to disable him with pinpoint attacks on weak spots. However Jiraya bullied through the damage, dead set on defeating the woman.

Neither side was gaining anything, and both leapt backwards, Jiraya forming handsigns midair, slamming his palms into the ground the moment he landed. "Doton: Yomi Numa!" Kushina was forming a large amount of chains which where snaking around him, but was forced to abandon them as the swamp formed.

She formed handseals as Jiraya focused on making the swamp bigger and deeper. With a "Katon: Karyū Endan" Kushina belched a fire dragon, impacting the swamp right underneath her, cooking away the water within. This formed a small dry platform for her to land on, as the expanding shockwave of flames forced Jiraya away from the edge of the swamp.

The pair watched each other silently, planning their next moves. On top of Katsuyu, Tsunade stood silent, her gaze not truly focused on the melee ahead of her as her mind spun over the revelations. Katsuyu's attempt to get her attention with a gentle "Tsunade-sama?" failed. Shizune was confused, her loyalty for Konoha warring with her sense of duty towards her master, and the betrayals Konoha seemed to have committed.

Naruto also had an inner struggle, he wanted to leap to his mother's aid, but knew he would just be in the way. Guren put a hand on his shoulder, both to calm him down and to remind him to pay attention. It would do no good if the pair of them were ambushed from behind.

Kushina meanwhile frowned inwardly 'I would win in the end, but the difference in power is not big enough… I need to get stronger to protect my son from Akatsuki' The name of the organization triggered another idea.

"Era, So you say I lie Jiraya?" she chuckled "You truly are not worth the title of spymaster."Jiraya frowned, trying to figure out Kushina's angle. "Danzo always wanted to be Hokaga." She stated, getting a hesitant nod from Jiraya, Hiruzen having mentioned that. "Do you really think with such a goal, that he would disband that root program of his?" "He would, Hiruzen ordered it." Jiraya replied with a frown. "Era era, so naïve, the man kept it running. He is even responsible for one of your first student's death."

"You see Jiraya" Kushina mocked. "That child with the rinnengan of your first trio, the first child you thought was the child of prophecy, is still alive." Jiraya looked shocked and surprised "No.. I know those three are dead by Hanzo's hand." Kushina laughed "Hardly hardly Jiraya, after you left, they became a talented group of shinobi. And following the ideals you bestowed upon them, they formed a group that sought to end the 3rd shinobi war without violence."

"However, Hanzo saw them as a threat to his rule as their group expanded, and there is where our current 'temporary' Hokage comes in. Together, those men conspired, ambushing the otherwise peaceful group. Yahiko, following your self-sacrificing ideals did just that. He died, and the little rinnengan user went berserk, killing Hanzo and his troops while Danzo fled. The remaining orphans continued their goal."

"Do you know what the name of their group was Jiraya?" Jiraya looked shocked Danzo did something like that. And that Negato managed to kill a figure like Hanzo. "No…" Kushina smile turned viscous "Why, I believe it's called 'Akatsuki '"

Jiraya's eyes widened, his jaw dropping. He let out a pained "No". Kushina smirked evilly "Yes, The rinnengan user calls himself 'Pain' these days. And believes he can unite the world by hurting everybody…. Now how did that little prophecy of yours go, Minato was so proud when you thought he was the one... Oh yes, you would train the child that would bring great salvation or destruction. I think 'Pain' chose destruction ne?"

Jiraya gritted his teeth, looking ready to storm off, getting Tsunade to Konoha forgotten. "Now I see you are ready to march to Ame, but the prophecy did not mention a teacher stopping him. You are far too weak anyways, you allowed yourself to slip Jiraya, and you are up against the legendary rinnengan " Kushina mocked. "Perhaps you should find a new child to train, turn that poor kid into the real child of prophecy."

"Why are you telling me this" Jiraya demanded angrily. Tsunade wondered the same thing, wanting to know why how Kushina changed from the subject from her, to Jiraya. 'And how does she know all these things?'

Kushina shook her head. "That should be simple to understand, his group is a danger to the world, and even Orochimaru acknowledged the rinnengan user is stronger than him." Jiraya eyes widened 'Orochimaru acknowledged that?' he thought shocked.

'Right where I want him' Kushina thought, a smirk forming on her face. "Yes, the teammate who was stronger than you admitted somebody was above him, despite his boundless knowledge of jutsu." Jiraya suddenly made a connection "But that means he was a part of the group!"

Kushina laughed mockingly "Era era, you didn't know 'spymaster'. My my, you are bad. Yes, he was for a member for couple of years before he tried to kill Itachi who is also in the organization."Kushina saw the lack of surprise in Jiraya's eye "Era, you knew that much" she mocked again. Causing Jiraya to grit his teeth.

Letting Jiraya stew in his own thoughts, Kushina deliberately turned to face Tsunade. Further insulting Jiraya. "So Tsunade, do you really want to return to the village that has hurt you so much, and hidden even more from you?" Because she was turned, she missed an odd display emotions on Jiraya's face on 'hidden'.

Seeing Tsunades indecisiveness, she went in for the 'kill'. "Honestly, it's quite simple, you head back to Konoha, which you don't want, and deal with Danzo and his ROOT trying to kill you. Or you keep travelling until Danzo declares you a missing nin and puts out a high bounty for your body." "He wouldn't!" Tsunade tried to deny. "You are talking about a man who robbed your grandfathers grave without a problem and took the eye out of an Uchiha." Kushina spoke calmly." Tsunade looked unhappy. "I lose in either case." She spoke annoyed.

Kushina smiled 'Right where I want her'. "Well, it would be an dishonor to my clans name to leave a cousin clan member without aid. You could always come with me to Oto." Tsunade shot a glance to Shizune, who still looked torn. "She can come with us of course, she is as much a victim as you are from Danzo's plans."

"Tsunade, if you plan to betray Konoha, I will kill you myself" Jiraya threatened, seeing no other way to stop Tsunade. "Era era Jiraya, going for the caveman solution of getting the woman you want?" Kushina mocked. "You got your hands full with me, do you really think you can handle both of us?"

Tsunade looked hurt, shocked and finally settled for anger "So you lie to me, and now you threaten me Jiraya?" she hissed. Before she could say anything further, a four man squad of blank masked man shot of the forest into the clearing. Rushing towards the side of the giant slug.

Mid run, the lead man calmly cut open his palm, presenting the gushing blood towards Tsunade, who started to freeze at the sight of the blood.

Kushina cursed, not expecting Danzo's men to be there, cursing herself for missing them. If she went for them, she would leave herself open to Jiraya. "GUREN, NARUTO!" She shouted, praying the pair of them would understand.

She withheld a smile as suddenly a flurry of high-speed crystal shuriken shot out from another part of the forest,suddenly flying far faster than they had right to. Kushina did smile when she saw the speed of the impromptu collaboration jutsu. The high speed barrage forced the masked man to abort their charge.

Katsuyu used the extra time to fully turn towards the squad. Quickly spitting a spray of acid to give her master more time. Shizune shook Tsunade, trying to get her back to her senses, but she stared unendingly at the bloodied palm.

Trying to capitalize of Kushina's distracted state, Jiraya shot over his hardened swamp towards Kushina, aiming for a knockout blow. Kushina bend under the initial strike, and rolled away from the follow up before countering with a crouched leg sweep, which Jiraya leapt over, Kushina shot forward like a coiled snake, striking Jiraya midair, tumbling away. With a display of acrobatics unexpected by his frame, he flipped himself to his feet.

"Danzo is going to kill your teammate and you are letting them?!" Kushina shouted as she closed in. "Katsuyu…" he started, blocking a blow "…will keep her safe." He grunted out between the blocked blows. Kushina had less confidence, and was about to shout for Guren to interfere, but saw in the corners of her eyes a blur of blue and blond hair shooting forward.

Kushina cursed as she realized her son was engaging in battle, discarding her plans to keep Jiraya alive. She unsealed Kusanagi and slashed forward. Jiraya quickly palmed a pair of kunai, hastily blocking before discarding the nearly cut apart tools, drawing a fresh pair.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" Naruto shouted, guiding a narrow cone of pressured air, boosting the another volley of crystal shuriken towards the masked man. Once again hindering their advance. In response, a pair broke off while the remaining pair leapt onto the back of the slug.

"Shōton: Suishō Tō!" Guren exclaimed as she spun into a deadly dance, forming blades as she started to spin, interrupting the pairs attempt at ninjutsu. Naruto was right behind her, scoring a glancing blow with his kunai on one of the unbalanced men.

The man grunted, and blocked Naruto's next horizontal strike clumsily with his tanto. He forced Naruto way with a quick swipe, before pushing him backwards towards Guren with a rapid combo of strikes. Naruto could barely keep up, but behind him Guren impaled her opponent with her crystal blades, handily broken down his defense.

She leapt over Naruto, extending her crystal blade into a massive block of crystal. "Shōton: Idaina tokimeki!" the cried as the block of crystal crashed into the ground, shooting deadly shrapnel away in a semicircle, keeping herself and Naruto safe. The masked man was shredded in the storm.

On top of Katsuyu, Shizune fought a desperate stand against the two men, intent to prevent them from attacking her still stunned master. Using a combination of wrist mounted senbon launchers, chakra scapels and agile taijutsu she managed to hold her own.

As she got overwhelmed, Guren shot forward, sending Naruto towards Tsunade. Between the pair of woman, one of the men fell, while the survivor shot away. Guren gave a furious chase.

Jiraya ducked under another attempt to behead him. He hesistated, stuck between trying to kill Kushina, and the chance he would lose when Tsunade would stop being in a stupor. Going into sage mode crossed his mind, but he was uncertain about Kushina's abilities.

Furthermore, he wanted to confirm the story Kushina told, If it was true that Negato was the leader of Akatsuki, he need to stop him before he could fulfill the prophecy. With a curse, he reverse summoned himself to Mount Myōboku.

"Coward" Kushina growled to the disappearing smoke, before calming herself down in the realization her plans would stay intact if the pervert did what she said.

"Tsunade" she spoke coldly. Gaining the woman's attention like she just awoke. "Danzo is out for your head now, are going to run around until he catches up, or are you going with me?" she demanded harshly. "What do you want from me" Tsunade snarled back. "Nothing" Kushina replied "I would appreciate if you looked after an subordinate of mine, but I demand nothing." She spoke calmly.

"Fine, I'll come" Tsunade said tiredly. "Katsuyu, you can go home now" The snail nodded slightly "Understood Tsunade-sama." Shizune walked demurely after her master, her faith in Konoha badly shaken by the encounter.

Guren came soon after, having lost track of the survivor. Kushina sighed at her profuse apologies. "You did your best Guren." She spoke encouragingly. "Let us return to Oto." She spoke calmly. Holding back the scolding she wanted to give Naruto for fighting the could be Anbu-level root agents. He did came out unscathed and held his own.

The Oto nin shot off, Tsunade and Shizune following quickly.

AN: Writing Tsunade is hard QQ Remember that Kushina is telling the truth as she knows and it fits her.

Oh dear, what could have Jiraya hidden from Tsunade!

In hindsight, I feel like I rushed my way through this 'arc'. I expected to last 4 chapters in my planning… and I barely got half that :|. Does it feel rushed for you readers?

ChibakuNaruto: Nope, 'just' Danzo's men. Although the men in red clouds passed my thoughts, the combined strength of all those present would make a rather big mess.

Wyrtha: Naruto rode along for the initial exchange, Jiraya never really had the chance to attack Naruto, not without exposing himself to Kushina (Which would result him dealing with a berserker mother ,which would result in a pulped Jiraya, that would ruin the plotline :P).

Guest: Mito went into the dark as close as she could on her own terms.

Agrond: Glad you like the story, I am doing my best to find a balance between making them more humane, but still hardened from their past with Oro-pedo.


	22. Chapter 22

The return journey towards Oto was uneventful. The group with their additions easily sneaking through the sparse patrols, before picking up pace for the final run. Kushina was pleased that they were intercepted by her own patrols, showing that her forces had done well in her absence.

During the journey Kushina settled for a mild warning, reminding Naruto his was still inexperienced and should be careful picking his fights.

After confirmation that they were who they claimed the be, the group soon made their way towards the main entrance. As they entered the base, Kushina assigned an escort for Tsunade and Shizune, showing them their rooms.

They found Kimimaro and Karin hunched together over a bunch of rapports. "Kimimaro, Karin-chan" Kushina greeted, causing the pair to shoot up. "Kushina-sama, Naruto-sama" Kimimaro intoned "Mom, Naruto" Karin greeted as the hugged them both. Kushina and Naruto hugging back.

"Anything noteworthy happened while I was away?" Kushina asked, despite having received no messenger snakes. Kimimaro shook his head. "Not yet Kushina-sama, Karin and I were working on the odd reports we just received about Iwa's movements towards Taki. "

Kushina frowned. 'Could they be after Nanabi? That could hinder my plans.' She thought. "Any other odd troop movements our spies reported?" Kimimaro thought for a second "Only that Kumo send a quarter less of the troops you predicted Kushina-sama." 'The Raikage must be playing careful then… interesting, I did not expect him to do that' Kushina mused.

"Very well Kimimaro, well done." Kushina praised her loyal subordinate "Tsunade joined us." Kushina told the pair, causing Karin to light up a brilliant smile. "She can perhaps help with your condition Kimimaro." The man nodded "I will serve you as long as my body allows me to Kushina-sama" "I know Kimimaro, let us try to make that as long as possible." He nodded, before setting off. Karin close on his heels.

Kushina took her seat, quickly skimming through the reports Kimimaro and Karin worked on earlier, she stopped when she noticed Naruto was still in her office, seemingly fidgeting he wanted to say something. Before she could ask what is wrong, he spoke up.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked almost shyly, speaking the thing that was bothering him since the journey back, having replayed the battle in his mind. "You always can Naru-chan." "Why didn't you and Jiraya go all out.. it seemed like you were just kept feeling each other out." Kushina smiled, pleased her son had noticed. "Correct Naru-chan. Jiraya was unsure of my strength, and I need Jiraya alive for now."

"Why would you need him alive? He is working for Konoha isn't he?" Naruto asked confused. Kushina chuckled. "He works for Konoha on paper, but in the truth he has been as useful to Konoha as Tsunade was, drowning in his sorrows his own way, using his rather meager spy network as an excuse." Naruto nodded attentively.

"We need him alive because the toads hold the key to your seal." "Key?" Naruto echoed, Kushina blinked in surprise, before she understood. "Most high level containment seals are linked with an unique key as security measure, in theory it is possible to replicate this key, but in practice it would simply take too much time."

Seeing Naruto's inquisitive expression "You will understand better, remind me tomorrow to start on your fuinjutsu lessons instead of working on the basics." Naruto smiled brightly, he learned a lot about fighting as a ninja from his mother, but he wanted to learn his clan's trademark for a while now. Naruto's happy expression also made Kushina smile, happy that her son was happy.

Naruto suddenly had an idea. "Could we ask our snake summons to steal the key for us?" he asked, aware all summons shared the summon realm. Kushina shook her head. "They cannot, aside that their respective homes are too far away, the snake summons have no reason to go to war with the toads. Fights between the their number when they are summoned are treated the same as ninja's from different villages encounter each other during missions. They fight, but it does not trigger a war in normal circumstances."

"I see" Naruto said, conveying his understanding "Why would we need the key for?" Kushina raised an eyebrow "Did Kyuubi not inform you?" Naruto tilted his head, feeling his was missing something. "I am surprised you managed to pull out three tails really." Kushina rambled "The seal should have been too tight for that, with the key I could make it easier for you to access Kyuubi's chakra. It is not without risk however."

"Risk?" Kushina nodded, her expression turned serious. "If we open it too far, Kyuubi could easily push through enough power to make you lose control. I know you have a measure of understanding, but the smell of freedom could break that understanding." Naruto blanched, aware an escaping Kyuubi was very, very bad for his health.

"Now go and rest,I will join you later" Kushina said, Naruto withheld a sigh, it looked like he wouldn't be sleeping alone anymore. His mother having held off her nightly 'snuggling' because of protocol.

Kushina returned to her reports, but not before writing a quick letter to Suna.

* * *

Several days later

Naruto walked towards his mother's office, he started his fuinjutsu training, but was stumped on the chakra conversion theory. He couldn't find Karin, who was most likely bother Tsunade who in turn was grinding her gears on Kimimaro's case, from what Naruto could understand, had to do something with his bloodline and his usage of it.

Without knocking, he walked into the office and heard.

"…. In three days you will infiltrate Konoha." This caught his attention, he did not forgot het promise to Hinata. Before him he saw the familiar red hair of his sister Karin and four others. He quickly recognized the unique attire and knew he was seeing the sound four, an elite squad his mother inherited from Orochimaru, his other sister a member of it.

He silently padded to his seat to the side as his mother continued her briefing, only sparing him a quick glance and a smile. He was surprised to hear that even after the invasion his mother had such a firm grip on vital information as patrol routes, wall guards and police force patrols.

He wondered why his mother wanted Sasuke, his old, not so loved teammate. But he had missed the part of the briefing where it was explained what exactly they were going to do. After the vocal briefing, the five walked off with folders, going to memorize the information.

Naruto wanted to join the mission, but was unsure how to approach his mother. "What is wrong Naru-chan?" his mother asked, clearly sensed his conflict. "…I want in on that mission" Naruto spoke, drawing an confused eyebrow. "Why would you want to return to Konoha Naruto?" she asked sternly.

He looked his mother in the eyes and spoke unwaveringly "I made a promise to Hinata I would get her out of Konoha." Kushina blinked, she expected he wanted to go for revenge, not a promise. "Why didn't you tell me you made such a promise, and who is Hinata?" 'Did he have girlfriend? How did I miss that?' she asked herself. She admit the idea of her boy having found love already amused her greatly. At the same time, she was irritated he hid it from her that he made such a promise.

Naruto opened his mouth, but realized he had not good reason to hide it from his mother. He looked towards the ground ashamed that he defaulted to his usual hiding behavior without thinking. "Sorry mother" Naruto apologized without looking at Kushina.

Kushina stepped out of her chair and walked to Naruto, hugging him gently. "It is alright, so who is Hinata?" she suddenly made a connection "Hyuuga Hinata?" she asked unsure, remember Naruto's classmates. Naruto nodded "Yes, Hyuuga Hinata, she has it just as bad as I did in her own way."

Kushina blinked, trying to connect 'Hyuuga main house heiress' with 'Bad as jinchūriki' "How?" she asked, unable to figure it out herself. "Because she is the heiress, they…expect a lot from her." His face turned disgusted. "That includes fighting her own sister to see who is more 'suited' to become the next heiress. They need to doom their family to a branch member slavery when they are old enough."

Kushina sighed, understanding how badly the Hyuuga's could be. "So that's why you wanted to beat up that Neji?" Naruto nodded. "How did you agree to contact her?" Kushina asked. Naruto looked back at the ground, realizing he did not make a plan at all.

Kushina barely held back groan, her practical mindset telling her to abandon the Hyuuga, while the motherly side wanted to help the people Naruto clearly cared about. Suddenly she had an idea. She quickly called a messenger, calling for Tayuya and Karin as she formed the skeleton of a plan.

The pair of redheads soon entered the office, not having had the chance to get far away. "Why did you call us Kushina-sama?" Tayuya asked formally. As Kushina explained the basics, both girls got a small grin at the potential teasing material they suddenly had on their brother.

"So the mean problem is that we have no way to contact this Hinata." Karin summarized. Kushina nodded. "Correct, but that is where you come in Karin-chan." Karin raised her eyebrow. "You are the only unknown of us for Konoha, you should be able to make it in with the workforce they draw from the surrounding villages to repair their own."

Karin nodded her understanding "As Naruto's sister I should be able to gain her trust. If Naruto writes a letter to back up my claim we should be able to convince her." Tayuya suddenly protested "But if Karin is dealing with the Hyuuga bi..girl." she caught her insult in time, but her adoptive mothers glance told her she heard it."… who is going to deal with the Uchiha?"

"That would be you Tayu-chan" Kushina spoke plainly. Tayuya groaned "Fine, but I expect a pay raise for it." Kushina chuckled, waving her hand. "Naturally Tayu-chan. I would ask the same."

"Naruto" Karins voice suddenly grew cold again, and Naruto stiffened in response. "Start writing that letter, I expect.." she glanced at Kushina for confirmation, who nodded"... to leave earlier to convince the Hyuuga girl."

"Yes Karin" Naruto droned, quickly grabbing a pen and paper from his mother's desk, before dashing off to his own room to compose it. All the while trying to figure out a best way to convince Hinata Karin was there on his behalf.

Naruto, in his opinion, managed to write a good letter for Hinata to read, containing a mix of confirming he was doing well, who Karin was and that she could be trusted, and that there was a plan to get her and her sister out.

He met his mother and sisters at the entrance of the village. He went into detail about Hinata's looks and habits he knew about, and where she was most likely to find her.

"You know your girlfriend pretty well, when are you going to marry?" Tayuya teased. "Naru-chan, I don't want grandchildren too early." Kushina followed up, as the pair tried to make Naruto blush as hard as they could. Karin chuckled "Don't worry, She will be in your loving hands before you know it Naruto"

Naruto feeling horrible outnumbered, wisely kept his mouth shut on that subject and settled for "Stay safe Karin, and good luck." He spoke softly. Karin smiled "Don't worry, you will be there soon." Naruto nodded, unaware his mother had other plans for him.

Karin exchanged goodbyes with her mother and sister, before shooting off into the woods. "Naruto, follow me to my office. Tayuya, gather the sound four at the training ground near my office."

Naruto, puzzled follow his mother back into her office. "Naruto, during this mission you will not be helping Karin extracting the Hyuuga sisters." "Why not?" Naruto protested, Kushina held up her hand, signaling him to stay silent, which he did sullenly.

"Since you have a personal stake in it, it will cloud your judgment." He opened his mouth, and his mother's gaze stopped his words dead in their tracks. "While Karin and Tayuya complete their objectives, your mission is to infiltrate the Hokage tower." Naruto blinked "Thanks to Mizuki's betrayal you had an unique chance to scope out the security, and have proven to successfully bypass the majority."

Naruto nodded hesitantly, although he knew the Hokage nearly caught him, thanks to the old man's softness and perverseness, he managed to use an…shapely… henge to distract him.

"So I am to steal the scroll of sealing again?" he asked. Kushina smiled "That is one of the things you are to steal there, there is very good chance some of our clan's scrolls are still held there. I doubt Danzo had the chance to smuggle them or the other scrolls away. Since he still needs to break the news Tsunade turned against Konoha without breaking morale."

"We will use the few days we have to increase your knowledge about security seals, since your stealth and your ability to avoid patrols are exceptional." She winced slightly at the reason why. "Once you have sealed up everything that is not bolted down, you will plant time delayed explosive seals, which should provide a suitable distraction to longer hide the fact you took the Hyuuga sisters."

"Any questions" Naruto shook his head, unhappy, but understanding why he could not personally get Hinata himself. "Then let's go."

The pair set off to the training ground, where the sound four where waiting.

* * *

Same day, Kazekage Office

The Kazekage read the letter Kushina had sent towards him personally, to his surprise it contained a request for a favor. 'So her son is wind natured hmm?' the kage mused. Seeing a chance to repay the pair for their aid to him and his family, he quickly went through several instructors before an idea hit him. He signaled his secretary to fetch his children's team.

The sand siblings entered their fathers office. "You called for us Kazekage-sama?" Temari asked formally. Their father waved his hand indicating they were private. "Yes I did Temari." He spoke kindly "Kushina has asked Suna for a wind expert to teach her son." Temari, making the connection asked "Shouldn't a jonin like Baki be better?"

Shinkiro smiled "You underestimate yourself Temari, and it is only the basics he needs to learn for now." Suddenly Kankuro stood protectively in front of Temari, his eyes narrowed. Gaara was unsure why, but followed his brothers lead, surprising Temari.

"Kazekage-sama" Kankuro said formerly, ice dripping from his voice. "You would not be happening to set up Temari with Naruto would you?" Temari eyes shot open in surprise, while Gaara started to glare. Shinkiro sighed in his mind 'That is five steps backwards if I don't do something…' "I won't." He smiled faintly "Of course if it would happen on their own, that would be great wouldn't it?"

The siblings just stared at him, Shinkiro shrugged, and with a grin he said "I do want grand-children you know. And none of you so far brought a boy or girl home." Temari blushed, Gaara's sand armor would have hidden his blush if he understood while Kankuro's face paint hid his. "Dad!" Temari shouted, before stomping off. "You leave tomorrow!" Shinkiro hollered after his daughter.

"Grandchildren?" Gaara asked confused. Kankuro, sensing the danger ran after his stomping sister, leaving the mess of explaining Gaara the bird and the bees to his father, who blanched and blamed the gods for putting him in this situation.

"Well… you see…" he stuttered.

AN: I eagerly await your Naru/Temari speculations. *Evil laugh*

Naruto888: Well, that is certainly an interesting theory. Currently there is a lot happening without much time for training between. But yes, He will grow stronger as events progress further. (And hopefully I will be able to show his growth realistically)

Duanemaster/Deathmvp: Good points, Naruto had to jump through an handful of hoops before it came to fighting, I skipped those steps.

ChibakuNaruto: He is going to build an evil empire, and Oto will be the rebellion! :P


	23. Chapter 23

Hinata sighed as she indulged herself by eating a cinnamon bun, ever since Naruto's 'treachery' had been revealed, her stay in Konoha turned more unpleasant.

First she had to deal with an Ibiki who was hounding her from time to time, she already had two 'conversations' with him, and the man had no regrets to pry at his insecurities. She truly had not known that Naruto decided to leave Konoha until she met him at the invasion, revealing the truth about his mother and his desire to take her with him.

Against the odds, and her own beliefs, she managed to keep that promise hidden from the man, who thanks to the Konoha's laws, and the fact her 'father' refused to hand her over for a mind scan. 'Although he only refused because it would bring shame on the clans name.' she thought wryly.

She had refused when Naruto had made the offer, unwilling to leave her sister in the clutches of their 'father'. Despite constantly pitting them against each other with the threat of the cursed seal hanging above their heads, the sisters managed to stay close. 'Probably because I was the only the person who truly cared about her, the branch members are getting more distant every day, and our 'fellow' main house members couldn't care less, to absorbed into their own power games.' She mused.

To her surprise, her usually supportive jonin-sensei turned rather unpleasant too, whatever wound she suffered during the invasion made her bitter towards the Uzumaki name. She had told in rather harsh terms towards the Hyuuga girl to forget Naruto and whatever feelings she had for him. Hinata had expected the talk, but she didn't expect the normally kind woman to be so… mean, so hateful.

A recent upside was that Neji truly changed. After Naruto literally pounded some sense into him, he stopped sneering and just…watched. After a few days of watching, he spoke to Hinata when she was alone, and to her surprise, apologized for his behavior, allowing his hatred to blind him about her innocence. And he had defended her against Ibiki's 'inquiries' much to her thanks.

Hinata felt guilty she would abandon Neji, but she was certain she couldn't convince him to come with her. Unlike the main house members, the branch members where a tight group, always looking after their own.

Hinata's ninja senses tickled as she left the bakery, she suspected somebody was following her, and the girls red hair did not exactly made her blend into the crowd. She turned to face the girl, ready to make a scene, but before she could she saw amusement in the girls eyes. Momentarily stunned, the girl walked past closely, and Hinate felt something stuffed into her coat.

She felt like slapping herself she allowed herself to be caught off-guard like that, yet couldn't be curious what the girl gave her. She meekly pulled out the paper out of her pockets, realizing it was a letter, she quickly ran off towards an alley where she could read it without someone looking over her shoulder.

A quick burst and look around with her bloodline revealed nobody was close by, and she unfolded the paper, reading a letter for her written by Naruto.

'Naruto-kun has a sister?!' she thought surprised. She read on, happy Naruto was doing well and ready to get her out of Konoha with her sister.

She ripped the letter to tiny shreds, before stuffing the shreds into her pocket. She walked out of the alley, intent to find the redheaded girl who gave her the letter. She was surprised as she suddenly heard a voice behind her "So, do you believe the letter?" Hinata stiffened, before she nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Great!" the voice said chirpily "I am Karin, does your sister know?" Karin asked. Hinata nodded again. "Excellent, our mutual friends will be here in two days, since we are ahead of schedule, how about shopping?"

Hinata blinked, not expecting the sudden change. Before she could answer, she was dragged away by Karin into the partially rebuild market district.

* * *

Naruto silently padded behind the sound four formation. They trained hard on teamwork and stealth in the few days they had before they left for Konoha.

Because his blond hair and whisker marks where rather recognizable marks, Naruto had covered his hair under a bandana, and wore a mask covering his lower face. He felt like scratching it away, and idle wondered how Kakashi put up wearing such thing the entire day. 'Must have a pretty nasty scar on his face.' He thought.

During the training days he managed to get a decent feel of the group, overall they had an arrogant edge, but it was doable. His own sister Tayuya was the team leader, although despite the situation she sometimes had to endure coarse jokes. Something she retaliated against with language much fouler than usual.

Jirobo was an heavy set team player, and seemingly the only one who didn't use foul language in the group. Kidomaru was the least arrogant, and scouted ahead with his spider summons. 'He does talk in those strange game-related term however' Naruto thought. The paired up twins through their bloodline ability where both quick tempered and took losses badly during their sparring, and Naruto liked them the least.

His sister Tayuya vexed him the most however, despite properly spending time with her, she kept the distant and standoffish, all his attempts to talk with her rebuffed by foul language, or when his mother was around, quick one worded replies that conveyed the hidden 'screw you' quite well.

Kidomaru quickly guided the group of five through Konoha's outer patrols, they had detailed information, but none of the patrols where exactly on schedule, they only had one close call, but between the darkness and the exhaustion the Konoha nin seemed to suffer from, they easily made it through.

They silently scaled the walls, using the crook cuased by the extension of watchtower to hide themselves. A quick genjutsu from Tayuya confused the tired guards, and the group silently made their way in.

The streets where empty, and they saw from the elevated position on top of the wall that there where patrols up and about inside the village. 'Wartime protocols' Naruto mused silently. They quickly exchanged glances, they knew everything relied on their inside information now, if they were caught, escape would be very hard.

They scaled down again, avoiding the stairway from the tower. They had to stop and hide twice for patrols. But thankfully none of them investigated the quick boxes Kidomaru made with his webbing, Tayuya's genjutsu making them look real without expanding noticeable amounts of chakra.

They were slightly late to the rendezvous point, a burned out building, yet to be repaired despite the time between the invasion and now. Quick greetings where silently exchanged. "Was it hard to convince Hinata?" Naruto asked Karin silently. She shook her head "The letter did it, didn't have to do anything else. Thanks for making it easier."

Naruto smiled, relieved he would be able to fulfill his promise indirectly. Karin quickly applied temporary chakra suppressing seals on his skin, it was quite uncomfortable, but Naruto needed them, this time if he was caught in the act, he was a dead man. And he needed every extra he could get.

They quickly scanned over the known patrol routes relevant to their time and location, before they split up in three teams. The first one was just Naruto, who headed towards the Hokage tower. The second team was Karin, joined by Sakon and Ukon who headed towards the Hyuuga compound. The third team was composed of Tayuya, Jirobo and Kidomaru, who headed towards the Uchiha district.

* * *

Team Naruto: Streets.

After leaving the burned out hideout, Naruto darted like a wraith through the streets of Konoha, sticking to the back alleys he knew since he was out of the orphanage. He ironically was close to using the same route he had used when he broke into the tower for Mizuki's 'test'.

His mother spy, or spies, had shown that after his break-in, their where barely any changes. 'An academy student managed to break into the most important building of Konoha and they shrug their shoulders, you'd expect after mom's attack they wouldn't be so complacent' he thought.

He made it past the initial chuunin guards by opening an unsecured window, taking care not to trigger the seals etched on the edges. He realized it was luck during his first break-in he did not trigger this set. This time, instead of running like an idiot alongside the wall, he sneaked along the dark corners along the ceiling, using chakra to stay in place.

Periodically he spotted lines of seals to catch unsuspecting fools, they were 'hidden' by making them look like parts of support beams, or behind the glare of lamps still on. Thanks to his mother's last minute training, he saw them clear as day.

As he disabled them, he noted they looked old and worn. 'It seems like these haven't been maintained in ages.' He thought with a frown as he ducked away deeper behind the true support beams as an expected patrol made their way below him. 'Heh, even as ninja, they never look up.'

He was about to leave his hiding spot as he saw movement in the dark, quickly squashing himself back in without making too much movement, he saw a quartet of blank masked, dark clad people move alongside the walls.

Naruto was shocked 'Those where ROOT troops! We don't have any information on their patrol schedules!' he thought with a twinge of panic, before calming himself down. 'I just need to be more careful and trust Karin, Tayuya and the rest.'

With a nod to himself, he sneakily double checked his surroundings before advancing towards his objective.

* * *

Hyuuga sisters: Hyuuga compound.

Hinata was nervous, the day since she met Uzumaki Karin, she started to observe the Hyuuga's own patrols as well of those in the neighborhood. She was glad that Kurenai's tracking and scouting training also covered observation of enemy assets.

It was still hard for Hinata to see the compound she grew up in as an hostile structure, but hardened her heart for her sister who silently sat beside her. Both of them had their eyes activated as they acted they were working on Hanabi's homework for the academy.

To Hinata's relief there were no unexpected changes to the patrol routes, and returned her eyes to normal. She quickly glanced at the moon, and judged it was time to leave. Her sister followed her lead, and they silently walked outside.

Sneaking through the different inner gardens, the sisters safely made it through the inter house patrols. Hinata was both glad and surprised to find out the branch house members where surprisingly lazy when it came to patrolling the compounds outer walls.

A quick check with her bloodline confirmed that once again there was no-one patrolling near the wall, and she silently helped her sister over the wall.

The pair, with only their most important possessions, silently stalked through the street, Hanabi putting up an admirable show of stealth.

They made their way towards the meeting point unopposed, greeted by the red headed girl and an odd boy with two heads. Hanabi nearly shouted in surprise, but a quick silencing seal from the red headed girl stopped her. "I am Uzumaki Karin" she introduced herself "And this is Sakon and Ukon" the boy slightly bowed. "The twins have a bloodline ability, do not be alarmed." She said calmly to the wide-eyed Hanabi. Who reluctantly nodded.

"Well then, shall we go?" Karin asked. And the four of them set off towards the walls of the village.

* * *

Team Tayuya: Streets

Once again, Kidomaru's spiders scouted the route they planned to take, the Uchiha district was the furthest and most isolated objective of the three from the rally point.

They had to stop and hide once, using the same box trick again, from an unexpected patrol. Tayuya noticed the blank masks and cursed under her breath. 'Mother..Kushina-sama had warned me about this, That shithead Danzo is moving more openly, I hope blondstain of brother is fine' she thought.

To her surprise, Kidomaru informed her that his spiders did not spot any hidden guards inside the near empty Uchiha district, and they made good speed once inside.

They carefully entered the ruling families house, constantly looking for any traps or seals that could be triggered. Tayuya's paranoia was flaring heavily 'This is to easy' she kept chanting in her head. She heard Kidomaru mutter "Shouldn't this be like a midlevel challenge?" which she took as an agreement on her thoughts.

'Well, Jirobo's shitty girth is not in the way' she thought as she silently opened the door where the Uchiha supposedly slept. Her nerves wired for ambushes. Flute was at the ready to distract whoever was inside before she would bolt at the highest speed she could manage.

…. And she found an snoring Uchiha, completely unaware of his surroundings.

She gestured Jirobo and Kidomaru to get into positions. 'Time to wake the snoring shithead up.'

* * *

Jiraya: Fire country

Jiraya was walking down the path with a frown etched into his face. The debacle with Kushina had cost him quite some respect from the toads, who took his lying, despite being on orders, to his then allies badly.

The toads found that deceiving your enemies was understandable, but deceiving your own teammates about the fate of their allies, and Konoha not honoring their friends aid… Gamabunta was not amused.

He basically told Jiraya to pick his fights well from now on, the hidden message being only to ask for the toads assistance when he was in a fight he couldn't win without their help. This meant that their messaging services effectively ceased to be, although he had a backup mechanism in his network, it was much slower than teleporting toads.

The frown became deeper 'Kushina was right, my network is lacking… and then there is her story about Yahiko, Negato and Konan….. could it be true? A lot of what she said was true as far as I know.' He stopped, gazing up to the blue sky 'If Oro-teme truly believed he couldn't take on Negato..Pein.. then it is no use for me try and find him.

He couldn't help but wonder if Kushina had the right idea about finding a new apprentice.

AN: First time writing a sneaky sneak scenes, I hope it was interesting to read. It wrote itself fairly easily as I made up 'defenses' along the way, so I might write more if its readable, as I enjoyed writing ehm.

R-Rated: Depends on your perspective, for Naruto constantly being hated in Konoha was 'normal'. Family is fairly important for him, so he views Hinata's treatment by her kin's hand worse than his own.

NARUTO1, boredrandom, shortfused24, Triforce Guardian : Wow, make a joke about a pairing and get harem requests instead. ^.^"

Sabery, .3950, : I have plans for the romance part, but that's for you to find out, and for me to tease you with until you want to murder me (please don't :P)

Agrond: *chuckle* He will be surprised indeed.

Dregus, NandoXFiles: It was a last minute joke, initially he blushed too, but then I realized Gaara should be still socially stunted. Awkward question time! :D

Guest reviewer: Next chapter, it will be revealed. Jiraya is currently lost on the path of life ;)

Wyrtha: Hehe, re-read carefully what Kushina is trying to make Jiraya to do. Or the last bit of this chapter ;) She is a smart woman with a plan.

Yea, the key opening thing is part shortcut, part…well evil plans later.

Gru: Honestly that is something up in the air, the anime does have a 'branch family photo' where female members have the seal. It is true that in RL traditions a woman cannot form her own branch clan. But there is only ONE branch in the Hyuuga clan (or at least it seems so). Furthermore, supposedly they are only branded when a heir turns three.. which would leave the majority of the clan unbranded between heirs, rendering the entire thing useless. (After all, all the babies born after Hinata are vurnable, why would Kumo kidnap her if there more less high-value babies around? Why would the generation born after an heir willingly submit themselves when the next one gets born.. that could take up at least ~20 years)

Honestly, it's one of those things the maker of Naruto only thought out partly… with a bit of logic, you poke some very big holes into it.

Chinran, pain17ification: Not telling.

Homarid: I agree with the forgot theory, the symbol is displayed prominently enough in the manga covers. Romance will stay a minor part of the story.

ChibakuNaruto: It was a joke QQ"

Geez, I should make more romance-hinting based cliffhangers, it scores me reviews! /shameless review hogging. Skipping tomorrow with updating.


	24. Chapter 24

Team Naruto: Hokage Tower

After avoiding being caught by the unexpected ROOT patrol, Naruto quickly made it up to the right floor. Sneaking past the final layer of stationary guards and seals, entering a familiar chamber filled with scrolls.

He remembered from his last expedition that the Hokage was onto him when he removed the scroll of sealing, so he kept that one for last. Silently forming a multitude of shadow clones, he set out to find the Uzumaki scrolls.

He found them soon, and after double checking they were not secured by seals in any way, he sealed them up in his own storage seals. He saw several logs too, found by his clones, the show his mother had giving him during her showdown with Jiraya impressed the importance of information on him, and he decided to raid as much logs, dairies and reports as possible while he could.

The four storage seals where soon full, after double checking he had not missed anything related to his clan or his cousin clan, the Senju, he prepared the time delayed seals, planting some quite blatantly in sight, while others were hidden well, between the scrolls, inside some of the scrolls or underneath the cabinets.

Satisfied that there would be quite a lightshow when the seals would go off, he nabbed the scroll of sealing, and shot off like he stole something. A quick glance showed him that there who no seals on the pedestal itself.

Shooting into the darkness of the hallways, he quickly, but carefully started to make his way out, tracing his earlier steps. This time he had the advantage he did not have to pause to disable the alarm seals. The patrols where still on schedule, but Naruto kept an hawk eye out for any unexpected ROOT patrols mixed in.

He did not encounter any and quickly made it down towards the window he used to enter the building. Once again avoiding the seals on the ledge, he leapt into the dark night. And shot like black bat towards the walls, intent to make it to the rendezvous point. Happy he did not trigger any alarms that could threaten the entire operation.

'Shame I did not have the time to plant any explosives on the Hokage Monument' he mused as he raced forward. A quick glance towards the position of the moon confirming he was still on schedule.

Uchiha residence.

"Wake up" A female voice demanded harshly. Sasuke shot up in response. "Who are you!" He demanded harshly. "Shut up dickhead, Otokage same send me here to advance your seal. If you are strong enough, she will consider becoming your wife remember?"

Sasuke froze, before his memories vaguely constructed a scene where that was said. He did not remember anything about 'advancing' the seal, but it would certainly meant more power, more power to kill _him_.

He would have laughed manically at the idea if his seal did not suddenly erupt in pain. Before he could cry out, the mystery redhead stuffed rags down his throat, stifling the cry.

"You really are a pathetic cocksucker aren't you." Tayuya commented as she saw the Uchiha rolling around in pain. 'I have the old style curse seal pussy, I just toughed it out.' Hidden in the darkness, Jirobo refrained from telling Tayuya to watch her language.

Tayuya, even in the murk of the darkness, saw the Uchiha's eye shift shape, the normal three tomoe forming into three intersecting eclipses. She quickly whipped out a mirror, showing the Uchiha his new eyes, and sneakily forcing him to stand up again by slowly raising the mirror as he admired his new eyes.

"Mangekyō Sharingan" Sasuke said reverently.

Tayuya gave a nod to her hidden teammates. She quickly grabbed the Uchiha's chin and forced him to look upward. Jirobo grabbed his arms, forcing his hands together while Kidomaru bound them together with his webbing. As soon the hands where bound, Jirobo grabbed the Uchiha's head, keeping him looking upward, away from the group.

As soon her hands where free, she plucked out a kunai, and stabbed the Uchiha in his heart, she missed her mark however thanks to his struggling, and instead of dying, he slowly started to bleed out, pain blooming on his shoulder where the mark was, and in his chest where he was stabbed.

He started to resist harder, trying to kick his captors. "Kidomaru, grab those legs and spread them apart." Kidomaru blanched, knowing the next part of the mission, and the prime view he would be getting. "Most awkward retrieval quest ever." He mumbled as he ducked, grabbing the Uchiha's legs and forcing them apart.

"Quit your whining shithead, I need to cut them off." Tayuya cursed, hating she drew the short straw for the next task. Using the bloody kunai, she ripped open the Uchiha's pants and fan themed boxers he wore underneath.

Sasuke, despite his panic, couldn't help but wonder what they were planning. Darkness was encroaching the edges of his vision. He suddenly felt a painful tug in his nether regions, and suddenly his package got cut off. If his lungs weren't filled with bloody by now, his shriek of pain would be heard all over Konoha. Then the darkness claimed him, he was glad the pain finally stopped.

Tayuya sealed the Uchiha package into a specific scroll, shudder, and then dashed downstairs, intent to make it to the kitchen she spotted when they infiltrated the home.

After thoroughly cleaning her hand, heavily using different kinds of soaps and disinfectants. She walked back up for the second retrieval part of the mission.

"I tell you Jirobo, no hesitation, grab, pull, cut. Like a maxed level cutter." She heard Kidomaru speak. She entered the bedroom again, the Uchiha splayed on the bed, staining it with blood. "What shitheads" she demanded hotly. Inwardly enjoying how both boys went to protect their own privates.

'That'll teach the bastards not to tell sexist jokes when I am around' Tayuya thought, seeing some advantages in the rather unpleasant and gory mission. "Jirobo, hold his head while I pluck out those shitty eyes for the boss lady."

Ignoring Kidomaru's mumbling about "She got bonus experience in her cruelty stat" Tayuya carefully extracted the red eyes from the Uchiha, following her mother's instruction to the letter. Placing each eye in a special container, before sealing the containers in a scroll, which she then locked with a blood seal.

"I still can't believe those shitty red eyes could set things ablaze by looking at things, or put you into a coma by looking into them" Tayuya said as she once again cleaned her hands after putting away her tools. Jirobo reprimanded Tayuya mildly "If Kushina-sama says they can, they can. She cares about us and warned us about those abilities to protect us."

Tayuya nodded, appreciating the fact her boss cared, even if she thought she was her mother, the snake man before her certainly didn't. The trio quickly cleaned up the worst of their traces.

"You think Naruto, Karin and the duo completed their quests?" Kidomaru asked. Jirobo replied before Tayuya could shoot back an acidic comment. "Since there are no alarms going off, and its nearly time. I'd say they did." He looked at the moon, judging the time, before nodding to Tayuya. "Alright shitheads, let's go!"

With that, the three blurred away in the darkness, quickly scaling the walls, sneaking through an opening in the patrols.

Kushina, Otogakure at the same time

Kushina was pacing, in hindsight sending all your children into the loins den was quite bad for your health, despite having good reason to. Naruto was the only one who had seen the insides of the secure sections of the Hokage tower, having broken in before. Karin's sensory and medical abilities where vital for the exfiltration, and she was the only person 'close enough' to make contact with the Hyuuga's, an unexpected addition to the plan, while Tayuya as the leader of the sound four couldn't be cut out.

That didn't make it any easier on her nerves however, as she tried to stop herself from pacing a groove into the floor. She wished she had more high ranking ninja ready, but she suspected like most other kages had the same wishes. The threat of war forcing them to send their most powerful patrolling against their counterparts.

'They should be leaving Konoha by now' she thought. 'I am sending Kimimaro' walking out of her office in a brisk pace, intent to wake up her ever loyal subordinate to meet her children as soon as he safely could.

'I hope my bad feelings about this are wrong.'

Several hours later: Uchiha Residence

Kakashi was early to train Sasuke, having completed his mission the night before, a complete, out of character action, which would usually be received by people trying to release the genjutsu or otherwise proof he is an imposter. He agreed to train Sasuke each morning, but now the sun wasn't even up yet.

Ever since the invasion where Kushina gave him an impressive scar on his chest, and a deeper scar in his mind, he couldn't waste his time like he usually did in front of the memorial stone. Every time he saw Minato's name, his sensei's name who stopped him from self-destructing upon his father's death, Kushina words would echo through his mind.

"_Era, the biggest disappointment in Konoha. Minato would be disappointed in you." "Well, you did say you wanted to be a big brother figure for the baby that would be born." "Did you know the name of that baby?" "Well, let me tell you Kakashi, its Naruto." "This again, like I told Kurenai. He is the third container, I was the second." _

His knee-jerk reaction to the revelation was that Kushina was lying, influenced by the fox, using her as a puppet just like it had used Naruto as a puppet. And somehow influencing the Hokage to keep it alive.

However…if it was true that Kushina was the second container, and Naruto the third, that would mean the boy was blameless of his sensei's death. And to make it worse, he was the son of his sensei. Meaning all the abuse the boy suffered while Kakashi watched, and his own neglect towards the boy when he was in his care… he was not sure if he could look Minato in the eye.

He shook his head and expertly whipped open his Icha-Icha book, distracting himself from the morbid thoughts as he patiently waited for Sasuke to open the door.

A couple of pages later he raised his eyebrow, yes, he might be on time, thus unexpected, but the boy could have the decency to at the least check the door. He knocked again.

After a while he got annoyed, and found out that the door was open already. He stepped into the house. Kakashi wandered through the first floor. 'That is odd, usually he is standing impatiently behind the door waiting for me to arrive, the boy needs to learn the joys of life if he wants to rebuild his clan.' Kakashi thought, giggling perversely. As he got near the stairway, he smelled blood.

"Sasuke?" He shouted. After getting no response, he dashed upwards, bursting into the bedroom.

There he was greeted by Sasuke's corpse, laying spread-eagled on the bed. Kakashi's ANBU mind noted his removed eyes, stab wound in the right lung and the removed package in the lower regions. Upon noticing the last fact, his hand shot down to inspect his own manhood, upon confirming it was fully functional, albeit unused.

He quickly summoned his pack of dogs. Who looked surprised to see the Uchiha's corpse. "How many where here?" Kakashi asked coolly. The dogs shot through the house. "Two male, one female." The lead dog replied. Kakashi nodded his thanks and shot towards the Hokage tower.

Hokage Tower

If Danzo was a lesser ninja, his eye would have twitched in anger as he saw the scroll room that once contained the scroll of sealing. His ROOT patrol having discovered the room was plundered, explosive tags littered and hidden throughout the room, what was left was tossed around in a messy pile.

Inspecting the disarmed tag and having enough knowledge about fuinjutsu, he realized should his patrol been ten minutes later, the room would have gone up into flames, and the fact most important documents and scrolls where stolen would have been hidden.

He was about to call his ninja to pull out an experienced tracker from the patrols to find if they could track the culprit, when the copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake dashed towards him. The man stopped in an bow. "Hokage-sama" he spoke formally, gaining Danzo's full attention. "I found Uchiha Sasuke dead in his room, his eyes were removed" the man spoke directly.

Once again Danzo showed he was not a lesser ninja.

"My tracking dogs suspect there were three perpetrators. " Danzo nodded "I see, summon your dogs and find out if the they smell the same people here." Kakashi frowned, seeing that there were other ANBU clothed people combing the place. Never the less, he followed the order.

"Go through the room thoroughly. Try to find the same scents you smelled in the Uchiha house." He asked his summons. The pack also combed the room, barking to each other when they were done. "The other people made it hard Kakashi, but we are certain the people we smelled in Uchiha house are not the same. There was one odd scent however." Pakkun spoke.

"Odd scent?" Kakashi echoed. Pakkun, the lead dog nodded "I suspect he is a male, smells heavily of fox, like he sleeps with them." Kakashi's lone eye widened. 'Naruto came back and managed to sneak in here again?' he wondered. Danzo keep his neutral façade, but asked himself the same thing.

"Kakashi, duo the threat of war our troops are heavily strained." Danzo admitted. "However the newest batch of rookies show close to chuunin level strength, gather as many as you can in 30 minutes, before giving chase to this fox-scented person. Retrieve the stolen documents, and capture him alive."

"What about the people that killed Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. "I am certain they are together." Danzo replied calmly. Kakashi nodded at the logic and set off. 'I need extra trackers should they split up, so that is finding the genin from Kurenai's team. Gai's team could be the heavy hitters if they are not taken. Asuma's team could help capturing….' He suddenly realized his own team was completely gone now. Sakura died during the invasion, Naruto betrayed Konoha and Sasuke was killed.

He nearly went into a self-pitying state, but snapped himself out of it to get revenge on those who killed Sasuke, it was the least he could do for Obito.

"Pakkun, go to the Inuzaki compound and find out if Kiba is available, send him to the Hokage tower in 30 minutes if he is." He ordered his companion. He himself shot off towards the Hyuuga compound. Quickly relaying the same instructions to the Hyuuga gate guards for Hinata and Neji.

With Twenty minutes to go, he rushed towards the Nara ranch next. Knowing well that Shikamaru would make an excellent second in command. To his surprise he saw the usually lazy boy training with Choji near the entrance of the Nara ranch.

'Makes sense' Kakashi corrected himself 'If they boy hasn't figured out himself, his father would have pointed out war is on the horizon.'

He relayed the same instructions to them, but did not order them to find Ino 'We don't know for sure what happens if it is Naruto and she enters his mind, she might not be able to fight the mental might of the fox, or if it's truly sealed into him, on which side of the seal she would come.' He mused as he set off towards the Aburame district.

The guard informed him Shino was gone on a mission with his father. Kakashi frowned, not expecting that, but couldn't do anything about it. He did not know where Tenten and Lee lived. So he set back off towards the Hokage tower, hoping all the team members would make it on time.

Hyuuga compound.

Neji frowned, as soon the gate informed him about the emergency mission and that he had to prepare for battle, he quickly packed his gear with the aid of two other branch members.

He then ran or walked as quickly as he could to Hinata's room. After knocking on her door, but getting no response from the polite girl, he boldly openend the door to find it empty. That on itself was not so odd however, the academy homework on the floor was.

During his walk towards her room, he passed the dinner room and did not see either main house girl. He double checked by quickly walking to Hanabi's room close by. And once again found an empty room. He frowned deeper as he suddenly saw no personal possessions. The Hyuuga clan members did not have much, but team and family photo's where tolerated.

He double backed towards Hinata's room, finding the same absence. His frown deepened, 'Did they leave… and is the mission to retrieve them?' he asked himself. 'That… does not make any sense.. the branch house would know that… what happened here?'

He shook his head, and set off towards the Hokage tower, there was nothing he could do but worry.

AN: And so starts the Sasuke retrieval arc… or should say, Parts of Sasuke retrieval arc ;) (Been wishing to post this since chapter 12!)

I admit the reasons for sending Genin as backup for Kakashi is weak, but it's the same one as canon.

Von Kreuz: Aye, it's not bad, but its more covering a plot hole for myself ;)

Sabery: I think Sasuke went from 'Yay' to 'Ouch' to 'Gurgle' to 'Sweet merciful death'

ChibakuNaruto: Id suspect a hawk will make his move soon.

Guest, Yuri-Hime-Chan : Hinata will notice in a couple of chapters. I didn't do an instant color change. (I had hoped I could surprise my readers with it, damn you! :P)

Agnar: Shiver me timbers on the spelling, I'll look out for it in the coming chapters. And you make another good point.

Wyrtha: ….Completely forgot about the brat. Naruto also leaves a present, but it didn't work. (Can't have a 100% success rate now.)

Yuri-Hime-Chan: Haha, took me a minute to process it, but you are right!

BioHazard82: Thanks!

Next chapter Saterday, Local festival, no way I am writing ;)


	25. Chapter 25

Kakashi frowned slightly as the deadline struck. Out of the nine potential teammates he could have, good for two teams, he only saw Choji and Shikamaru from team Asuma. Neji from team Gai and Kiba from team Kurenai.

"Where is Hinata, Neji?" he asked. "I do not know" the Hyuuga replied neutrally, keeping his worry for himself. 'This mission is not to retrieve Hinata and Hanabi if he asks for her.'

Kakashi sighed 'This has to do.' "This is an emergency A-Rank mission assigned by the Hokage." He started, gaining all their attention. At the mention of 'A-rank' they stiffened. "An unknown infiltrator has stolen the scroll of sealing and several other vital documents. We are to track this infiltrator and retrieve the documents, if possible we are to capture him."

He presented an book that had the infiltrators scent on it, gesturing for Kiba and Akamaru to smell it. Without thinking, Kiba spoke up "Smells like Naruto." Kakashi withheld the urge to put his face into his palm. 'And that is why you are not ready to become chunin' he thought idly.

Taking in the startled expressions "I suspect the same thing, you need to remember he is now a traitor to Konoha, so do not hold back if it is him understood?" 'Should I warn them about Kyuubi? I do not know if the law has been lifted yet.' He thought with a frown.

"Furthermore, Uchiha Sasuke has been murdered this night, I suspect that the three perpetrators of that crime are with the infiltrator. Meaning we are going to face a four man team." The genin looked shocked that one of their own was killed. Their faces turned grim.

"I will take the lead, tracking the scent of the infiltrator. Kiba will behind me to double check the trail. Choji will be next, focus on keeping an eye on our left side. Shikamaru will be after Choji, keep your eyes our right side. Neji will take up the rear. He will be using his Byakugan to watch on backs. Should we be forced to split up, Choji will come with me, the second team will be under Shikamaru's command, with Neji and Kiba with him." The genins nodded at the formation information. "Should I be disabled in any way, Shikamaru will take over, no complaints about that understood?" They nodded again.

"Any questions?" Kakashi asked. "Who is the priority target, the infiltrator or Sasuke's murders?" Shikamaru asked. "Retrieving the documents in vital. Focus on whoever is carrying those." Shikamaru nodded at Kakashi's reply.

"Then, we are off." And he followed Pakkun who locked into the fox-scent.

* * *

Earlier: Outside Konoha's walls.

Naruto quietly snuck through the trees. Although he was initially on schedule, he had to stop and hide for another unexpected patrol. He was not if they were ROOT men, or that he had forgotten a patrol route, but the result was the same, he had to quickly duck into a civilian home. Thankfully the family's dog was very friendly, and didn't make any loud sounds giving him away. A quick petting session and Naruto was gone again, leaving one happy dog behind.

He hoped the team was still waiting, and was surprised when he suddenly heard Karin's voice coming out of the tree "Did you get spotted?" she asked. Naruto shook his head, relieve the team was there as the genjutsu dispelled, showing the sound four, Karin, and to his relief, Hinata and Hanabi.

Naruto greeted the Hyuuga sisters, who were relieved to see him after he pulled down his facemask. The wait on him with all those strangers claiming to be with Naruto was nerve wrecking for them both, the idea that they might be lied to came harshly to Hinata's forefront, her unpleasant memories of her kidnapping coming to the forefront.

Jirobo walked towards Naruto and the sisters, and kneeled down "Hanabi correct?" he asked as friendly as he could. The girl nodded. He turned around "Climb on my back, I will be carrying you." Hanabi shot a glance towards Hinata, who looked at Naruto. He nodded, and Hanabi climbed onto Jirobo's back. Using the robe decoration as a foothold.

Jirobo rose, and Tayuya snapped out the formation "Kidomaru, take the lead, I will be behind you. Karin and Jirobo in the center. Hinata and Naruto behind them. Sakon and Ukon take up the rear. Ukon, keep an eye out will you. I am not going to rely solely on Karin's ability."

The group set off. Following the formation given, they initially easily snuck between the patrols. But it would not be a clean escape.

"We got four people behind us" Hinata spoke shyly shortly after she activated her Byakugan. Tayuya cursed, having heard that, she glanced back at Karin, who nodded, the team having just entered her sensing range.

"Are they masked shitheads?" Tayuya asked. Hinata gasped at the language before nodding. "Colored masks or black and white?" "Black and white" Hinata replied. Tayuya let loose another string of curses. "Dammit, some of those ROOT goons must be on our trail. Kidomaru, up those trees. Ambush those shitheads! Naruto, with me, we will be the follow-up punch, Sakon, Jirobo, keep those Hyuuga and Karin safe!"

The group hastily redeployed, and the approaching ROOT squad ran under Kidomaru's ambush point, who dropped down, shooting webbing along the way. A veritable horde of spiders right behind him. The ROOT agents however nimbley dodged his ranged assault, and in a burst of speed, dove under the ambush area.

Three of the squad shot forward, one clashing with Naruto who hastily blocked a rapid vertical slash, unbalanced, he tumbled backward, the experienced agent not expecting the odd movement, tumbled down with him, sending both to the ground.

The remaining agent double backed, re-engaging the off-balance Kidomaru, this agent had also drawn a tanto, but it cackled with lightning, easily cutting through Kidomaru's webbing, and hacked his way through the regrouping spider summons.

One of the pair shot towards Tayuya, who swerved to the side with a curse. Rapidly pocketing her flute in favor for an elongated dagger. Before she could counter attack however, the man shot away, regrouping with his partner as the pair dived headlong into Sakon, Ukon and Jirobo.

Jirobo already had handed Hanabi to Hinata, quickly gathering earth natured chakra around the cloth on his arms, he improvised it as an armguard, blocking the slash from the agent who bypassed Tayuya, having seen it in action, he did not fall for the same trick again. 'They must have heard Tayuya's order somehow, and decided to kill Karin and the Hyuuga's first.' He thought. 'I will not fail' he declared to himself, narrowing his eyes.

The wins battled the final agent, using their bloodline to their advantage, they handily countered the initial taijutsu assault, staying fast and close to the man to prevent him from drawing his own tanto, he drove the man away from Karin and the sisters.

Down on the ground, Naruto landed with a grunt of pain, before rapidly rolling away from the falling ROOT agent, who tried an opportunistic slash. Naruto hastily formed his cross sign, summoning multiple clones into existence. 'Aside from summoning, I cannot use any other jutsu without risking the rest.' He lamented in his mind, the chaos above making it hard for him to judge where his allies where. 'Kyuubi's chakra is too risky, but we need to finish this fast.' He thought on as he ducked under a swipe, two of his clones dispelled by an skillful twirl of the blade.

It did give him the time to create more clones, who promptly tried to dog pile the agent, forcing him back. Using this opportunity, he backpedaled, forming the handsigns for the summoning jutsu. He did not have a lot of practice, but he was able to summon up to children sized snakes.

He was aiming for smaller ones however, and summoned a pack of 'normal' sized snakes, all quite venomous. "Encircle the agent, wait for an opening, go through my clones if you have to" he hissed towards the snakes, who set off to follow his order.

He made another group of clones, this time charging straight ahead. He himself shot a rather obvious chakra-chain shot straight towards the agent, who used a powerful two handed slash to disperse it. Having no room to dodge with all the clones to dodge it. 'I don't have enough control to use my chains otherwise in this environment' Naruto thought.

The man however stood strong even with the new wave, dispelling clones and snakes alike in a graceful dance. However, he missed the one snake who risked being trampled, slithering between the feet of the clones, its skin the same color of the dark grass. It struck the moment Naruto shot another chain, forcing the man to focus on it momentarily to properly deflect it.

The snake chomped down on his foot, a reflex kick removed the snake, but the poison was in his body. The agent quickly sensed this, and suddenly shot towards Naruto, ignoring the blows the clones landed. Naruto nearly managed to dodge the suicidal charge, a swallow but long cut appeared on his left arm, and he was grateful a pair of clone shad the state of mind to grapple with the agent, preventing him from giving chase to give a more deadly blow.

The man was pulled down, unbalanced by the grappling pair, and the rest descended like a pack of wolves. Killing the man in a rain of fists and feet.

Back up in the trees, Tayuya quickly observed the unfolding battles.

"I am the wrong class for this fight!" Kidomaru complained as he narrowly managed to avoid getting one of his six arms cut off. He tried to counter by forming his golden web, lightly tapping into the seal, causing it to paint a swirling pattern over his arms and upper body.

He managed to form two clubs, which barely held up against the rapid swordplay of his opponent, deep cuts into the material appeared with every cut. Suddenly, a flute started playing, disorientating the ROOT warrior. Kidomaru lashed out without hesitation, scoring a hard blow on the shoulder.

With a crack, something broke, breaking the ROOT warrior out of his stupor, who lashed out, Kidomaru handily dodged. "Oh yeah, Support class reinforcements ftw!" he boasted as he formed four more golden clubs. Charging in for a counterattack as the flute played again. This time the ROOT warrior was not affected by the genjutsu, but took a vital second to dispel it.

The ROOT man put up a desperate defense, but between his injury and the fact the enemy had four more arms than him, his faltered, and was pummeled to death. Kidomaru heaved a sigh as the markings receded, the short fight taking more than he had anticipated.

Jirobo grunted in pain as the tanto bit through his improvised arm guard. He countered with a bone crushing punch, but the agent ducked under it. With a rapid slash, he cut deeply into Jirobo's leg. Who lost his balance by the hit, instead of finishing him, the agent shot away towards Karin and the Hyuuga sisters. He tried to follow, activating his mark as he went.

Karin managed to block the attempt to slice her in two with a kunai, the agent steadied himself, before kicking her hard, head first, into a tree. The agent turned to slash at the Hyuuga girls, but instead of facing a meek shy girl, he stood against a lioness protecting her young, a rare fierce look was in Hinata's eyes as her fists enshrouded themselves into lions shaped by chakra.

With a furious shout she buried both her fists in the turning root agent, who was caught off guard, blasting him into another tree. With a sickening crack, something vital broke, and the agent fell down like a broke ragdoll.

Sakon, Ukon on his back landed near Hinata, whistling while looking at the tree she shot the ROOT agent into. "You got bite" he commented as his seal completely retreated into its compact form. His fight took longer than expected, the man quicker then he thought, despite his advantage of an extra set of limbs, he had a hard time landing the deciding blow.

Naruto, after defeating his opponent, heard the impact of person on wood, running on the ground towards the sounds of fighting above him, he saw a flash of red hair falling. "Karin!" he shouted, dashing forward to catch her.

He caught his sister, bleeding from cut on the head. He quickly undid his bandana, and used it as an improvised bandage to stem the bleeding. 'Dammit, I know head wounds are bad… but what can I do' he cursed to himself.

He climbed up, Karin bridal style in his hands. Once up, he saw Jirobo tended by a cursing Tayuya. "Am I the only one who didn't have to use the mark you weak shitheads?" she asked. "I only tapped for a temp boost" Kidomaru defended. Jirobo merely grunted while Sakon, with Ukon looked over his shoulder, glared holes into the redhead.

"Dammit, fatty here…" Tayuya started, ignoring Jirobo's complaint "… got his leg chopped up. And glasses…" she referred to Karin "… is in dreamland." 'Our medic and sensor is down dammit, why couldn't I and fatty stop the bastards properly.' She lamented.

"Kidomaru will lead, his spiders will scout ahead, we will go at a slower pace." She started to order 'Cant linger here, we are too close to Konoha, and we have no certainity other patrols will find the traces of our battle, or our tracks.' "Blondie, carry Glasses, Big pale eyes, can you carry the tiny one?" she asked Hinata, ignoring Hanabi's glare to be referred as 'tiny'. Hinata nodded, having heard worse. "Right, follow Kidomaru, Twips, support Fatty, I'll take the rear." Tayuya finished, the stress cuasing her to use the nicknames she had for everybody.

Thankfully, everybody understood, and they took off at an slower pace.

* * *

Konoha chase group: Outside the walls

"The fox scent is joined by multiple other scents here, including the ones I smelled at the Uchiha place" Pakkun reported as the pack sniffed around the clearing. Once again, Kiba showed his lack of discretion "Hinata's scent and scent smelling very closely like it is here! They kidnapped her!" he shouted, startling the group.

Kakashi turned towards Neji "What is the meaning of this?" he asked with a narrowed eye. "I do not know." Neji replied haughtily "When the call for the mission came in, I just found their empty rooms." He conveniently skipped over the fact personal belongings were missing. "I do believe she had a crush on him, which might explain her.. rash action." 'She proves just like Naruto faith can be fought…. If she escapes successfully… perhaps…' he thought.

"They must have kidnapped both of them" Kiba argued. "We will see" Kakashi said suspicious. "The main objective is still the scrolls from the Hokage tower." Kakashi said, well aware that he was breaking his own motto. 'Can't risk the wrath of Danzo on these kids' he thought with a frown.

The group set off, some prepared for the upcoming fight, some unprepared.

AN: Dog may be inspired by a certain dog in the family. Karin is an sensor, hence no complicated passwords for Naruto.

In Naruto's fight, I wanted the agent to appear stronger, but luck and cunning making it end in Naruto's favor.

NARUTO1: Haha, never crossed my mind, shame!

Zecht: Saves her the trouble for robbing his grave later

Dregus, Skeek622: Did you double check your package? ;)

Guest: Kushina is a smart woman, she is both prepared for the future, and tries to deny the enemy as much as she can. What her preparations are for the future?...well…read on.

Ncpfan: Drat, seems like I am failing to properly convey Tayuya. Attempting to correct in future chapters.

Deathmvp: Naruto got cocky in a high security location.

Wyrtha: She declared him bat-shit crazy in the forest, and gave up on him then and there.

Time Sea Sky Primordial: Achievement unlocked!: traumatized a reader

Wew, more reviewers out for Sasukes blood than I expected. I am aiming to have the next chapter on Monday, but writing the sound four in battle is harder then I thought, so there might be a day delay.


	26. Chapter 26

Infiltration group: Fire country forests

The group halted to rest and catch their breath, the sun already up the horizon. "Tsk, we are far behind schedule" Tayuya hissed lowly. Despite the treatment, Jirobo was visibly weakened, Karin was still in dreamland from the blow, worrying Naruto greatly. 'The blooding stopped' he reasoned with himself to keep himself down.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata spoke softly, a tired Hanabi nodding off against a nearby tree. "How is she?" she asked softly. Naruto sighed "I don't know, I know nothing about healing." He said frustrated. Hinata nodded, understanding the problem. She noticed something odd at the roots of Naruto's hair. "IS your hair turning red Naruto-kun?" she asked surprised.

He passed his hand through his hair "Yea, mom did some sciency-justu-magic-thingy, I had hoped it would be an instant hair change, but something about DMA…" "DNA, and its science" Karin mumbled. Despite the situation, Naruto smiled "I try to wake you up and you don't react, I talk sciencey stuff, and you wake up Karin-chan."

Karin and Hinata chuckled. "We aren't home yet?" Karin jokingly complained, Naruto shook his head. "No, Jirobo got hurt too." Karin frowned "Help me up" she ordered. Naruto and Hinata carefully helped Karin up, who then wobbled too where Jirobo was, an tired Sakon puffing for fresh air next to him "Can you heal him Karin, hauling his ass is hard work" he asked/complained. Jirobo huffed "You didn't hear me complaining when I hauled you both during that mission in the land of hot springs."

"Well, there is a bit of size difference" Ukon bickered back, the pair kept insulting each other as Karin worked on Jirobo's leg with medical jutsu. After a while, she spoke "You should be able to run on it for now, but don't start kicking things with it understood?" Jirobo nodded.

"Alright, you shitty weaklings ready to go?" Tayuya ordered. Karin suddenly perked up "I sense people approaching at the edge of my range." Tayuya spat a curse that made the young Hanabi blush "Which direction?" she asked, Karin pointed towards where they came from, eliciting another curse "We need to move now, double-time!" Tayuya shouted, and in a blur the group set off.

* * *

Konoha chase group: ROOT battle site.

After tracking the groups scent, they smelled another group joining the scent, and soon arrived at a battle site. After thoroughly inspecting the area, they could with certainty say their where four different battles.

The first combat site was littered with webbing. "One enemy has some kind of jutsu to make spider webs, that could delay us, we need to move carefully unless we want to get caught." Shikimaru spoke, he slashed with his kunai against the loose webbing "Normal tools don't cut this stuff, let alone those six golden colored clubs we found."

Kakashi hmmd "The ninja must have used his wind or electric element to cut the threads." Shikimaru nodded. "The second fight down below had the agent looked like he was under a mob, I am not sure if the group ganged up on him." Kakashi stiffened, Shikimaru's comment reminded him about the Mizuki incident. "It could have been Naruto and his shadow clones" Kakashi spoke lowly. Shikimaru nodded "That was my other theory, seeing all the footprints he left, he must have used the same trick he did during the preliminaries on Kiba."

Kakashi frowned, Kushina's words and the doubts connected to them rising to the front, before he shook them off. The murderers of Sasuke where with Naruto too.

"The third and fourth site both indicated some kind of taijutsu move was used." Kakashi nodded. "Near the third site, there is blood, so one of them is wounded." Shikimaru finished. "Very well, summarize it to the rest of the group, and tell them to keep an eye out for spiderwebs."

They regrouped, and continued their hunt. After a few hours, they ran into the resting spot. Once again they thoroughly investigated the area. "We could have not missed them by much." Kiba said boisterously. Shikimaru and Kakashi were torn, they did spend a good amount of time chasing them at an high pace. 'And I already checked their tracks, they healed whoever was hurt, because the heavy footfalls are no longer accompanied by another set.' He mused.

'Neji did not see them, so we might not be as close as we thought. And we have been setting a high pace ourselves.' He did not know Neji did not go all out, having his own plans if Hinata successfully escaped. He glanced to Shikimaru, whose closed eyes indicated he was also going over the information. "What do you suggest Shikimaru" he asked. "Give chase for another couple of hours. There are not ration bars or other indications they properly rested, they might know we are after them."

Kakashi blinked, slapping himself mentally for missing that detail. He nodded his agreement, and raised his voice. "We are setting out again, take formation!"

* * *

Kakashi's chase group would spend the rest of the day doing a stern chase of Tayuya's infiltration group. Tayuya, aware of their chasers had switched position with Kidomaru, who sometimes stopped to place webbings with explosive tags with that Naruto clones drew on the tree's bark.

These traps effectively slowed down Kakashi's group. And despite the different rest times Tayuya managed to keep her command ahead of Kakashi.

The sun fell, and both groups spend the night resting, Kakashi correctly presuming that their target was also exhausted, but could afford to rest since they had a superior way of detecting them.

The sun rose again, and the chase continued. The pattern of the previous day continued, and Kakashi started to consider calling the chase off. However, Kiba pointed out they seemed to be closing. He was right, Karin once again felt the group at the edge of her ability. Forcing Tayuya to leave half an hour earlier then she had planned.

Another night came, this time both groups spend part of it travelling through the endless forests of the land of fire. Tayuya trying to make more distance, while Shikimaru had correctly predicted this behavior. During this time Tayuya's group also attempted to set out several decoy trails, having deducted the most likely way they were traced.

The attempt failed thanks to Kakashi's superior experience, and lost no time finding the right trail.

Halfway the next day, Tayuya decided to make a stand, Kakashi's group now persistently in Karin's range, she knew it was only time before they caught up, and if she was going down, she wanted to go down swinging.

"Kidomaru, ambush and hold up two of them!" Tayuya ordered. "Karin, take the Hyuuga sisters…" she pulled out a scroll, containing the Uchiha parts. "… and this to Kushina-sama, go!" Hinata wavered for a second, before an insistent pull from Karin pulled her away. "Naruto and I will gang up on the leader shithead. The rest of you get one, defeat them quickly and help the rest. We will gang up on the leader last, ready fuckfaces?" The men, despite the unflattering nickname, nodded.

Kidomaru summoned a respectable amount of spiders, who positioned themselves alongside the trees. The moment the chasing squad entered his zone, the smallest spiders shot towards another tree, trailing webbing along the way. Kakashi instantly palmed a kunai, channeling lightning chakra through it, cutting his way through.

Kiba and Akamaru did not have this option, and leapt sideward, the rest of the squad following the hole Kakashi made. Kidomaru tried to intercept Neji, but with a well-timed midair defense, he used his chakra strikes to cut his way through.

"Does everyone have the perk to cut my webbing!" Kidomaru complained loudly as Kiba and Akamaru used the Gatsūga to dril his way past the webbing other spiders set up. Inwardly he smirked however, he saw that Kiba had to expand a lot of energy to cut his way through, using the rapid strike nature seemingly to his advantage.

However, Kidomaru squashed the bad urge to toy around, the leader, recognizable as Hatake Kakashi, who was no push around, and since he failed to capture two, that meant either Tayuya or Naruto would face him, not a good matchup.

He shot a complex of webs, forcing the pair to drill their way through towards him, Kidomaru readied his golden clubs, preparing to finish it at the first opening he saw, black markings started to crawl over his face.

The rest of the squad pushed through, Neji shouted "I am going to chase the woman holding Hinata and Hanabi-sama captive!" before shooting away. Kakashi wanted to curse, but knew there was a chance this would happen the moment they found out Hinata and Hanabi were with their target.

From the side, Jirobo and Sakon, Ukon on his back, pounced. Naruto and Tayuya came from the front, heading straight towards Kakashi. "Sakon, don't underestimate the pineapple head!" Naruto shouted as he formed clones mid leap, intent to dog pile Kakashi. "Naruto" Kakashi said, his voice stuck between demanding and longing. "Why?" He demanded as he dispelled the first pair of clones with his lightning kunai.

Jirobo meanwhile tackled the heavy set boy on the other team, sending both to the ground. Choji twisted, throwing Jirobo off, who tried to finish it quickly by breaking Choji's spine. "Baika no Jutsu" Choji shouted, quickly spinning on the spot "Nikudan Sensha!" he shouted as he shot off towards Jirobo as an human boulder. Jirobo who righted himself, quickly went through some hand seals "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!" he shouted as he slammed his fists into the ground, which in front of him flipped skyward, forming a wall.

Sakon and Ukon heard Naruto's warning as they engaged Shikimaru in a close range hand to hand fight. 'Why would he warn me.. this guy seems weak' he thought. "He must have a trick if this weakling is dangerous" Ukon said. Drawing a low 'troublesome' from Shikimaru. 'Naruto just had to make sure the arrogant one would pay attention, clever…'

* * *

Kidomaru versus Kiba and Akamaru

Kiba panted as he and Akamaru landed on the ground, having quickly learned that fighting the spider guy in the trees was a surefire way to get caught in his netting, he tossed a soldier pill towards his partner, who crunched it down, he did the same.

"Come down here coward!" Kiba shouted. "Why should I you level one newbie, I am going to for the perfect win!" Kidomaru taunted back, although Kiba didn't get it. "What kind of crap are you spouting!" he shouted.

In response, a flurry of arrows rained down on Kiba, who barely managed to dodge. Akamaru was not attacked, but was too worried about his master he did not notice the multitude of spiders weaving webs around him.

"I activate my trap card! Kumodōmu!" Kidomaru shouted, tiny spiders shot from the webbing that formed a dome around Kiba, who had barely noticed because of the rain of arrows. He dispelled the ones that came close, but the dome quickly filled with webbing.

"Sayonara sucker!" Kiba heard, as he tried to use a Tsuga to get out, unable to see the Akamaru who was knocked out by a spider." Get back here!" Kiba demanded, trying to find Akamaru 'These spider webs are hard, it is going to take too much time to get out!' he cursed to himself. "Akamaru!"

* * *

Sakon and Ukon versus Shikimaru

"Blondie must be a weakling if he thinks you are dangerous!" Sakon boasted as Shikimaru ducked, dived and dodged under a continuous taijutsu assault, the twins constantly keeping close preventing him from using his shadow jutsu. His own counter attacks easily blocked by Ukon, who was slightly more carefull than his brother.

A kick to his midsection nearly hurtled him into a tree, but he managed to apply chakra to his feet as he shot over a branch, slowing him down enough to land vertically on the side of the tree. He glared at his opponent, taking in the surroundings at the same time.

With the sun high in the air, he had a rich pallet of shadows to work with, spotting a particular path, taking in his enemies preferred straight-forward movements, he quickly jumped around, leading Sakon and Ukon all according to his unfolding plan.

A small smirk made its way as he sank to his keens, and a shadow rapidly shot down, traveling along the shade of the tree, before rushing back up another, catching Sakon and Ukon as they prepared to dash into Shikimaru.

Shikimaru calmly lowered his hand to grab a kunai to throw at the pair. The twins having none, meant that the mirrored movement would be no threat. "Naruto warned us!" Ukon hissed at the thoroughly cursing Sakon. "Quit complaining and get him!" Sakon shouted back.

Shikimaru smirked 'There is no wa…oh crap!' he exclaimed in his mind as Ukon suddenly launched out of his brothers body. The speed and surprise not giving Shikimaru a chance to form a second shadow.

'How troublesome' The Nara thought as he dodged the second bull-charge.

* * *

Naruto and Tayuya versus Kakashi

Kakashi effortlessly cut his way through Naruto's horde of clones, his single normal eye barely leaving the original. Tayuya started playing her flute, attempting to ensnare the man in a genjutus, but he shrugged it off like a light rain.

The girl cursed, rapidly pocketed her flute before going through a set of seal Kakashi recognized immediately, he leapt further backwards, momentarily focusing on the girl. With a cry of "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" three large humanoid shapes appeared in a puff of smoke, one 'man' blinded. One had his upper body wrapped in bandages and the last carrier a large club, hair hiding its face.

They stood as sentries, but Kakashi immediately recognized they started moving when Tayuya started playing. 'Must be connected.' His instincts warned him he had a large amount of people approaching him from behind.

With a quick replacement, he saw a poor log mobbed by Naruto clones, the familiar blond sending him back into his introspective he was having.

'Dammit, why didn't I recognize he was sensei's son' Kakashi berated himself again 'He is like a miniature version. And the name, Uzumaki! Kushina was already close with sensei before the war.' He leapt under a massive overhead swing, crushing the clones trying to pin him down.

The more he looked at the blond, the more he felt torn, his mind flung back to the days he just had the blond under his care, constantly thinking the boy was Kyuubi in a mortal shell. Now that he looked back with a different mindset, he felt like fool, a betrayer to his teachings from his sensei. He played favorites, and effectively tried to send two genin to their doom during the chunin examns.

'I send them all to their doom, Sasuke had the power, but lacked the mindset. Why did I try to make him stronger, he would only end up hurting everyone to gain more strength. He would be worse than scum.' Seeing the determined blue eyes, so reminiscent of the man who might as well had been his father, Kakashi spirit fell, he just wanted to go home and give up. Risking the rest of the genin was not worth it. Attacking the son of his sensei was not worth it, not for a man like Danzo. 'That man is going to be the death of us all' Kakashi realized. 'What the hell is he thinking by sending genin after a skilled team of infiltrators and assassins? '

Suddenly more information clicked as his body dodged and repelled the clones and summons. Somewhere in the back of the mind he registered the snakes trying to poison him. As his mind whirled trying to find a plausible explanation to disengage, a loud crash echoed through the trees.

AN: I know the mind-eye kagura and Byakgun could supposedly have a range of 10 kilometers. Not in my story, it would make infiltration bloody impossible. In this case, Kagura is superior.

Since travelling takes longer in my story(ies). I suddenly had the problem… well you understand later. Hence the sudden general description.

Sorry for the extreme late update. It went like this: Muse: Ya know, this is going to be a problem. Me: Yea, got an idea to fix it? *cricket chirps, turns around, finds note saying 'Fix it yourself bybyl, Muse'

Agnar: Honestly, the sound fours strength is all over the board, the first beat up a squad of special jonin in canon before getting defeated by genin (albeit strong ones). The same goes for the ROOT strength in canon (for the few characters we can make an accurate estimation)

Guest: She still sees her as a friend, although disappointed she didn't take care of Naruto, wanting to be a better woman, she wanted to give Sasuke a chance… who..well… blew it.

Agrond: I have plans for Neji *evil laugh*

chim3ra1988: Strenght of ROOT is hard to guage from Canon, but in my verse they'l usually be chunin+

Vendetta419: Geographically, it doesn't make sense for them to come (They'll need to travel through a lot of land of fire to get close).

Wyrtha: Would be a boring story if Naruto did a 'I come, I stole, I got away cleanly' :P

jamnaz79: Glad you enjoy it, and small friendly reminder not to jump the gun if you see some Naru/Hina moments ;)


	27. Chapter 27

Jirobo versus Choji

Jirobo dodged sideward the moment cracks started to form in his wall, moments later Choji crashed through, plowing into the tree behind him. "You are stronger than I thought" Jirobo admitted as Choji returned to his normal size. "But not strong enough!" he exclaimed, as he charged forward, landing a powerful punch into Choji's side, blasting his backwards.

Jirobo watched as Choji picked himself up, revealing a transparent container, three round pills, green, yellow and red inside them. His interested peeked when Choji popped open the lid of the green one, and took the pill.

He then slapped himself mentally for his arrogance as he felt Choji's power increase, and tapped into his seal, black arrowheads crawling over his skin, increasing his power as he met Choji's hand to hand counter attack headon, blocking, counterpunching and smacking away powerful blows, countering with his own.

After redirecting a particular powerful blow, Jirobo used the opening it gave to smash Choji across the clearing. Choji wobbled back to his feet with a groan, and went for the pocket containing the two remaining pills. Jirobo shot forward, not wishing to give Choji the chance for another power boost. "I will not give you the chance!" Jirobo exclaimed

Choji leapt to the side. Flipping open the lid of the yellow pill container, as he tried to reach inside, an arrow shot into the box, skewering the pill, before exiting, splattering the yellow pill inside the container.

"Hah, no overpowered boost items for you!" Kidomaru shouted from his hiding place, smugly lowering his bow. Jirobo groaned at Kidomaru's arrogance. He turned towards the spider man "Do not underestimate our oppone..." He was interrupted by a loud crunch, Choji seeing he was outnumbered, took the red pill not to fail his teammates.

"Chō Baika no Jutsu" Choji exclaimed, rapidly increasing in size. Jirobo instantly responding by delving deep into the power of his seal, his skin turning red, slightly increasing in size. "Kido, legs!" he ordered as he shot upward. Kidomaru responded with an loud wail of "HACKS!" before shooting large amount of webbings at the growing feet.

Jirobo had aimed his jump well, the apex of his jump slightly above Choji's growing head, focusing all his chakra in his arm, he landed a devastating downward punch, hitting the exposed boy's head hard, knocking him backward, his bound feet meant he toppled backward, landing with a loud crash as he crushed trees under his super sized body.

Jirobo landed on Choji's stomach, and ran forward, he jumped upward, spinning vertically, "CRASH!" he shouted as he landed a dropkick on Choji's head. Knocking the boy out, making him revert to his normal size.

"Victory is ours!" Kidomaru shouted "We need to help Tayuya and Naruto" Jirobo spoke, calming Kidomaru down. "They are facing a jonin." "Boss battle!" Kidomaru exclaimed as they set off.

* * *

Neji versus Hinata, Hanabi and Karin

Neji gave chase, his eyes clearly telling him that Hinata and Hanabi where no captive at all. With a last burst of speed, he overtook the trio. Stopping in front of them, he spoke coldly "Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama" as Karin took a defensive position next to the pair.

"Neji-niisan" Hinata replied. Mimicking Karin's action. "You chose this path?" Neji asked. Hinata nodded "I did…you could join us Neji-niisan…" Karin caught on. "My mother, the Otokage is an seal master, I am certain she could remove that mark on your head."

Neji wavered momentarily, the siren call of freedom was alluring indeed. A scowl then made its way on his face. 'If I run and its found out, the branch family will suffer' "I cannot" he spoke loudly, affirming his own decision.

Hinata looked surprised, but then understanding flashed in her eyes. Karin tensed, prepared to attack "What will you do then?" she asked. In response, Neji flared his bloodline, double checking their where no eavesdroppers. "I will let you go… and claim I killed you Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama."

Both girls looked confused. "But they will punish you when they find out we survived Neji-niisan." Hinata countered. Neji shook his head. "By the time they do, I will have taken your place." Karin looked confused, but Hinata looked shocked, before her expression softened.

"I see… you are hoping to force Hiashi to keep the leadership in our family line by making you the new heir…" Hinata extrapolated. Neji nodded, impressed the girl had such an acute understanding of politics 'One more thing I did not know about you Hinata-sama.' He mused.

"Don't trust him Neji, don't trust any of them" Hinata continued, her words indirectly showing her approval. "Nor give them any weaknesses… I did not want to give up on removing the seal from the clan… but they would use Hanabi against me, or if she became heiress, the other way around." Karin looked appalled at the information, while Hanabi looked down.

Neji was mildly surprised, unaware the main family was so cutthroat behind their doors. "Thank you Hinata-sama. I wish…" his words where cut short, as he suddenly was forced backwards, a deep wound cut into his stomach by a bone-sword.

"Karin-sama, Are you alright?" Kimimaro droned as he stopped momentarily. "Stop Kimimaro!" Karin shouted. "He is not an enemy." Kimimaro turned around, his face neutral, but his eyes showing his lack of understanding. "Just let him go, Naruto and Tayuya are fighting the copy eye jonin."

Kimimaro eyes narrowed, and with a nod, he shot off, not sparing a glance towards Neji who was trying to staunch the bleeding. Hinata shot a pleading look to Karin, who with a leap, landed near Neji to help him.

With a single bloody arm, he pushed her away. "I will be alright" he spoke calmly "This will make my story more believable, please leave." He pleaded. Hinata and Hanabi looked conflicted. "Please, for my sake Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama… give me this chance to save my family."

Hinata did not miss the implication what would happen to the main branch in those words, but resigned, when she made her choice to go with Naruto, she forfeited her hopes to reunite the family herself. "Good luck Neji-niisan, may you succeed to end the branch families suffering." Hinata spoke formally.

"Thank you…" Neji replied softly, before dashing off, trailing blood as he went. "We need to go." Karin spoke as she watched the wounded Hyuuga leave. The sisters nodded sadly, before following Karin away.

* * *

Sakon and Ukon versus Shikamaru

Shikimaru wished he was sleeping in when Kakashi fetched him and Choji for this emergency mission. Running for a couple of days with tiresome and troublesome. Confirming one of your enemies was an old classmate compounded it.

But he could deal with that, troublesome, yes, but he could deal with it.

'I can't deal with this splitting jerkwad however, he is far to troublesome.' The lazy Nara thought with an uncharacteristic curse. 'I spent the last ten minutes trying to make him use something else than taijutsu, he is part of an apparent elite infiltration group, he should be able to do more than punch me in interesting an anatomically incorrect ways' Shikamaru thought.

'Or…" he went on in his head as he dodged under a particular dangerous kick, before blocking the follow up punch, and redirecting the kick that came after, unbalancing the pair until Ukon sprouted the extra limbs needed to stabilize himself, before throwing them both back at Shikamaru. '… he is here solely for his infiltration abilities, not combat one.. why was that woman so confident in his victory than.'

It didn't fit, Nara's don't like it when it doesn't fit.

With a resigned sigh, Shikamaru executed the plan he formed moments after his first one failed, holding it off to see there were any other surprises that could kill him. With a leap, a well-timed explosive tag and a hail of shuriken, he forced the pair back.

Mid-air, he attached wire between two kunai's and threw them the pair to different trees. Taking position on a large branch, once again shooting his shadow down.

As he expected, Sakon bull-rushed towards him, despite the warning from his brother on his back. He snapped against the wire, unbalancing him, landing roughly on a branch halfway. A moment later he was ensnared again. Ukon launched forward, but Shikamaru used the mimicking part to make Sakon grab Ukon, who escaped his grasp, but flailed around in the air, barely managing to grab a branch. He pulled himself up, to the relief of both Sakon and Shikamaru 'Nearly messed up my plan there'

Sakon also saw the sigh, he was puzzled for a moment "UKON, MOVE IT IS A TRAP" He shouted, but it was too late, A second shadow snapped forward and ensnared Ukon.

"Kagemane no Jutsu Successful" Shikamaru intoned. Knowing that neither brother had a kunai pouch, he calmly went for his own, the pair uselessly mimicking. Suddenly, black markings spread over both as they realized the danger, struggling harder, their skin turning red and their visages demonic. Shikamaru rapidly threw a pair of kunai, his lazy demeanor evaporating as he felt his jutsu fail.

Sakon broke free first, leaping forward and barreling into Ukon, dodging under his kill shot and absorbing Ukon as he went, who broke free a split second to late, taking the kunai in the chest instead of the throat. Falling to the ground as he made no attempt to hold on to the branches.

"You bastard!" Sakon bellowed as he landed and lashed out to the base of the tree Shikamaru was on, who quickly leapt to another. 'What an increase in power! Too troublesome!' Shikamaru thought with a tinge of panic as he barely managed to dodge a flying kick. 'Physical strength increased tremendously if he can launch himself like that from the ground.'

'I need to retreat, I can't win this.' Shikamaru analyzed, and his hand rapidly dove into his equipment pouch, retrieving a pair of flash bangs. As Sakon charged in again as a berserker, he threw them in front of Sakon's path, detonating them as he came close.

"ARG" Sakon screamed in pain, before instinct took over and start dodging on instinct, trying to avoid Shikamaru's next shot.

He would wait for quite a while, as Shikamaru took the chance to run away.

* * *

"Oh yea! Boss fight time!" Kidomaru shouted as he tried to ambush Kakashi from behind, who kept passively dodging Naruto's and Tayuya's attacks, much to their annoyance. Jirobo silently circled around, joining Naruto and Tayuya. Kidomaru soon following. The four watched Kakashi calmly removing his headband from his Sharingan eye.

"He is getting serious" Naruto said calmly, knowing he would be in for an hard fight, he opened the connection to Kyuubi, who to his surprise stayed silent. "The cycloptic bastard has been toying with us the entire time." Tayuya cursed. "He is one of the best jonin from Konoha, be careful" Jirobo added. Kidomaru just smirked, anticipating a good fight, his seal responding, markings slowly making their way over his body.

Tayuya saw it happen in the corner of her eyes, and agreed. "Level one everybody, let's get this bastard and go home, I want wash my hands again after handing the Uchiha parts to Kushina-sama". Kakashi hmmd "So.. you where the one who killed Sasuke?" he prodded.

"Fuck yea I did, power-hungry fuckface never asked why he got a freebie in power." Tayuya taunted as markings started to cover her skin completely. "Idiot believed he get Kushina-sama's to be his wife to!" she laughed, before sending her puppets forward.

Kakashi started his counterattack, he shot forward, weaving between the puppets attack as he formed handseal, casually tilting his head to allow an arrow to shoot past. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" he spoke calmly, burning the backs of the zombie puppets. Elicting a stream of curses from Tayuya.

Kakashi grunted in pain as he whirled around and was forced to block a haymaker from Jirobo before sending him back with a well-placed kick. Naruto was right behind the big Oto Ninja, but Kakashi effortlessly threw him to the side before doing a backflip to avoid another arrow, shrugging off the genjutsu Tayuya tried to cast on him at the same time with little effort.

Upside down, he effortlessly formed more handsigns, and as he landed on his feet, he sank to his knees while hitting the ground with his fist, and in response a large earthen wall shot up with a "Doton: Doryūheki!" The wall stopped the storm of spiders Kidomaru had summoned.

"We need to powerup!" Kidomaru shouted in frustration as he glared at the rock wall, dog faces grafted into it. "You will not, you shall complete the mission Kushina-sama gave you" a voice suddenly spoke. "Kimimaro?" Tayuya asked surpised, not expecting reinforcements.

"Correct, go" Kimimaro droned. The rest exchanged glances, before setting off. Naruto asked as they left "What about Sakon and Ukon?" "They will be fine" Jirobo replied "As long they are together, the Nara should not be a problem."

The earthen wall Kakashi had made sank back into the ground, allowing him an unobstructed view of Kimimaro. "You are not going to gang up on me?" he drawled lazily. His mind working overtime on the possible abilities of the newcomer.

"That will be unnecessary"

* * *

Naruto and the group made a good distance when suddenly a loud rumble sounded and an massive outcrop of bones sprung up behind them. "Shit, bone-head is going all out" Tayuya cursed as she glanced back.

"Hatake was truly toying with us then" Jirobo spoke, his offended feelings clear in his tone. "Must be one epic battle" Kidomaru spoke "We nearly are at the target location"

The four soon found Karin and the Hyuuga sisters, a loud crash roaring from the bone field. "Karin, Do you sense the twin-crap-heads?" Tayuya asked. Karin shook her head. "Tsk… Kidomaru, send a group of spiders to find the idiots and guide them to Oto, they couldn't find their way home with a map stuck in both their asses."

The group continued on, soon joined by the tired twins who were pissed off for some reason, but nobody managed to pry the reason out of them. They crossed the fire/sound border without further issues when the night started to set, and pushed in until they ran into a patrol. Who graciously kept watch as the group rested.

Later that morning they arrived home.

* * *

Earlier, Kakashi

Kakashi panted as he pulled his hand out of Kimimaro corpse, carefully balancing as he put his headband over his sharingan eye. 'Don't want to impale myself on these bones because I ran out of chakra' he mused to himself as he popped the third soldier pill, having used two earlier during his exhausting fight with the bone user.

'Good thing I started to pack these things again after my adventure with Zabuza… kami I let myself slide didn't I?' he thought to himself . 'I was lucky this man…' he gazed at the transformed Kimimaro, who looked like a dinosaur '… seemed to be dying of something.'

He felt his chakra return, and he carefully hopped his way through the field of spiky bones, impressed that such a youth could unleash such devastation. 'I hope nobody got caught up in that attack' he prayed as he jumped into a tree, now clear of the field. He bit his thumb a formed several hand signs.

In a puff of smoke, his pack of dogs appeared. All gaping at the field of bones. He chuckled "You don't want to chew on those, it'll ruin your teeth. Those bones are harder than steel." He saw several disappointed looks and chuckled again.

Pakkun tore his gaze off the bones and focused on Kakashi, the rest of the pack reluctantly following his lead "What do you need of us Kakashi?" "Find the rest of the squad I came here with and bring them here if they can move, if they cannot, come back yourself so I can pick them up."

The dogs nodded and set off.

AN: No Kakashi/Kim fight I am afraid, with Kim able to escalate twice in power, and Kakashi having a boatload of techniques..the fight would be too long (and too boring in my opinion) to write without any purpose.

Agrond: Kidomaru made some game references in canon, as a gamer myself, he quickly became my second favorite character to write. (And damn I need to reign myself in xD) I need Kakashi alive for now, so he survives.

chim3ra1988: I concur, with such potential of devastation, villages are fairly obsolete, I am trying to avoid it in my fic.

Wyrtha: Kakashi has way to many ties to Konoha, more about his change of character next chapter.

PrototypeDemonv2: Heh, glad you like the joke. Tayuya is fairly easily to write, just try to add one curse word per sentence and she is complete in character :P

Guest: Glad you like the story.


	28. Chapter 28

Naruto took a deep breath in before his mother hugged/strangled the trio the moment they entered the office, the rest of the sound four snickering behind them. Thankfully his mother didn't start to babble, and released them before anybody could turn blue. He glanced to the sides, seeing Karin.. and to his surprise, Tayuya smile.

The atmosphere soon turned serious again, where each group gave their rapports about their activities in Konoha. Kushina frowned at the perceived amount of patrols, her frown turning deeper at the description of the battle with the ROOT agents.

She winced when they group explained that they encountered Kakashi, glad they escaped alive, but with a sinking feeling realized Kimimaro would not be returning. Tsunade didn't make much progress curing his disease, and she knew the man sought to die 'usefully'.

Afterwards they were dismissed, however Karin, Tayuya and Naruto where dragged along for lunch, recounting the tale again, and Naruto and Tayuya getting scolded for trying to fight Kakashi with just the two of them.

Both pretended to list attentively.

Naruto took off to show Oto to Hinata and Hanabi, the latter quite nervous about living underground from now on. To her relief the training rooms and several other area where quite large in every dimension, which made her feel much more comfortable.

During the tour Hinata noticed despite her shyness of being near her crush, who acted much more open with her now, saw that multiple woman where eying 'her' man with far more interest than she was comfortable with.

'It must be because he is the son of the leader.. and handsome…' she thought, her blush increasing as Naruto caught a passing Guren to explain to Hanabi how the schooling system worked in Oto. Who promptly dragged her away to introduce Hanabi to her adopted son Yukimaru, winking towards Hinata as she left.

Hinata fidgeted, unsure what to do now she was alone with Naruto, with nobody around who could harm her for being with him. Naruto although not outwardly fidgeting, was also suddenly wondering what he was supposed to do.

He blurted out first. "Want to go somewhere to eat?" Hinata nodded demurely, not really hungry, but also quite clueless on what to do. They quickly found a cafeteria, and managed to fill their time talking about trivial things.

At the end of their second lunch, Hinata was taken away to talk with Kushina about her joining of Oto, and how the pair wanted to deal with Hanabi becoming a ninja of Oto or not.

With nothing left to do, Naruto considered talking to Tsunade about learning more about field medicine, so he wouldn't feel so hopeless again as he did when he saw Karin injured, but had no clue where to find the busty Senju.

He shrugged and decided to relax, he could find her tomorrow.

* * *

The next day was marked by two arrivals, one expected, one unexpected. The expected one was Temari, who had to spend more time than expected to travel between the borderlands of several nations nearly at war, before successfully entering Oto controlled territory, she was soon guided to Kushina.

Temari walked into the office, greeted by a smiling Kushina "Hello Temari-chan, how are your brothers and father and did the journey go alright?" she asked kindly. Temari smiled in return "Hello Kushina-sama. Kankuro is playing with his puppets as usual, and I think Gaara has a girl crushing on him." Kushina eyebrow shot up intrigued. "Era, Does he know?" Temari chuckled "I don't think so." After a moment of silence she continued "Dad is alright, despite Gaara and Kankuro keeping their distance, he does his best to stay involved in our lives."

Kushina nodded, pleased that the man truly listened to her advice and stuck with it, regardless of the adversity. "And the journey?" Kushina enquired again. "I had to travel the long way around, but it was doable."

"I am right to presume you are here to teach Naru-chan about the wind element manipulation?" Kushina asked next, in response Temari nodded. Kushina's smile turned sickly sweet. "And you wouldn't have any orders to seduce him perchance?" Temari blanched, the tone the woman was using sounded sweet, but underneath it promised the destruction of her entire being. "No Kushina-sama, the kazekage wants me to find my own love." Temari replied.

She sighed in relief as the smile turned normal, but the next words warned her she wasn't in the clear just yet. "Good, Naru-chan brought his own girl home, so don't bother them please." The under spoken 'I will rip you in so many pieces you wouldn't be found on a petri dish' came over quite clearly.

"Understood Kushina-sama' Temari replied quickly, fidgeting on the spot. "Excellent" Kushina beamed as she signaled for two ANBU members. "Take Temari-chan to training area, and fetch Naruto and inform him his wind manipulation trainer is here." Both men nodded, one shooting off to find Naruto.

Naruto was searching for Tsunade when the ANBU member found him, and he quickly turned around and hurried over to the designated training area. When he saw the familiar blond with pigtails, he yelped surprised "Temari?"

The girl chuckled. "Hello Naruto, how have you been after the invasion?" Naruto smiled in return. "I have been doing great Temari, did you manage to get your brothers away safely?" "I did, thank you again for helping us against the toad sannin."

"No problem…" he switched subjects "… so you are my wind manipulation trainer?" Temari smiled dangerously. "I am indeed, I expect you to work hard." "Of course" Naruto shot back. She gestured Naruto over to the a pile of leaves. "In Suna we would use the leaves of a palm tree, these little leaves have to do." She picked one up, holding it between her hands. "Now the first step is to solely use wind-chakra to cut the tree leaf in half" She opened her hands, showing the split leaf.

Naruto spend the rest of the day not making much progress. In frustration, he made a couple of clones to do the same to Temari's surprise. He explained to her why he did it, and why he didn't create more clones.

At the end of the first day, he managed to make a tiny cut into the leaf, but he felt he started to get the hang of it.

* * *

As Temari instructed Naruto, Kushina dealt with the unexpected quest.

Before her stood purple haired woman she had last seen in Konoha, beside her was a bandaged girl, also with purple hair. "Hmm, I did not know you had a daughter Anko" she teased as the pair fidgeted at the place in nervousness, having been led a merry go around through a temporary entrance, travelling a good part of the morning underground before being barraged by questions and inspections.

Anko sputtered. "She is not my daughter, I saved her from a sick fuck who kept her leading along about being cured by something he inflicted on her himself!" she shouted back, completely missing the playful smile on Kushina's face until she came to the second part, where it turned to a frown.

"I see" she spoke calmly, walking from her desk to the girl "Isaribi is your name correct?" she said with a gentle smile as the girl started to hide behind Anko's legs, much to the woman's embarrassment. Giving a shy nod. "Is it alright if I call you Isa-chan?" Another shy nod from behind Anko's legs. Kushina gently pulled the girl away from her shelter, slowly undoing the bandages, much to the girls dismay.

Underneath the bandages where green scales instead of normal skin, and Kushina frowned slightly. "I presume Isa-chan can transform into something else?" she asked Anko. Anko nodded "Amachi called it the kaima form. Both he and Isaribi have it." "I see, can you show me that form Isa-chan?" The girl shivered, but did not respond.

Kushina shot a look to Anko, who mouthed back 'fear'. Thinking quickly, Kushina told a half truth. "No need to be afraid Isa-chan, my own son can turn into demon himself, I will not judge." The girl shot a wide eyed look at the admission. She reluctantly nodded, and transformed into a green scaled monster, a large fin extending from the back of her head.

Isaribi shot a fearful look to Kushina, who just studied her with a neutral expression, she slowly formed several handsigns, green chakra forming on her hands. "Don't be afraid Isa-chan, I am going to try and find out what kind of transformation it is." She spoke gently, slowly moving the green glow over the girl. A frown soon formed on her face. 'It is not nature-chakra based transformation like the combat seal on level 2. That means it is some implementation based transformation…. That will be hard to cure.'

"I am afraid it will not easy to be cure this Isa-chan" Kushina spoke as the girl reverted to her human form. Isaribi looked down. "I will do my best, perhaps you can convince Tsunade." The girl looked puzzled at the name "She is the best medic in the world." The girl gave a shy nod again as the started to lean against Anko's legs again, much to the woman's dismay. "Could you wait outside the office Isa-chan, we need to discuss adult stuff."

Isaribi looked up to Anko, who repressed a sigh "C'mon br..girl, nobody will bite you." She spoke as she gently pushed the girl outside.

The moment the door closed, Kushina sat down, a hard look in her eyes. "Report" she said with authority. "After we met in Konoha, I found and eliminated the elders after torturing them. I found out they truly believed children from jinchūriki have bloodlines…" Anko frowned "… they also said that the third did NOT order the mokuton experiments that had Orochimaru-sensei driven out of Konoha."

Kushina also frowned. "Odd.. perhaps Danzo ordered it then, he is the only person with the will and authority to pull it off." Anko nodded in agreement. "Afterwards I left Konoha, as I did not know where Oto forces would retreat too." Kushina blinked. "I did not tell you?" Anko shook her head. "You did not, but you were quite busy…"

Kushina sighed. "My apologies for leaving you like that." Anko waved it off. "No problem, if I hadn't that bastard Amachi would be still be experimenting on Isaribi." Kushina cracked a small smile, gesturing Anko to explain. "I went to what I thought was an old lab outside of Konoha made by Orochimaru-sensei for classified research in the land of the sea."

Kushina nodded, recognizing the location from Orochimaru's lessons and logs. "Instead I found Amachi working on some water based summon, while using Isa-chan…" Kushina smiled as Anko took over the pet name Kushina had used. "… to assault local shipping for recourses for his research on the summon and Isa-chan, using the refined results on himself."

"He was making an artificial summon?" Kushina asked, intrigued. Anko nodded. "Yea, he shouted something it would trump a supposed ultimate summon some other madman was making." She rummaged through a small backpack she carried, pulling out a scroll. "Before I torched the place to the ground, I salvaged as much paperwork as I could, not that I could make much sense of it." She finished with an helpless shrug.

She watched in silence, and a bit of fascination as Kushina scanned through the files, doing it with the same speed her now gone sensei Orochimaru did. She noticed several notes containing seals where set aside, having particularly caught the redheaded woman's eye.

"Not as much information on the transformation on Isa-chan as I hoped, I am afraid healing her from the transformation we will have to take the long and hard route." Kushina spoke after a while. Anko, having grown close to the girl without admitting it, sighed.

"So she can't be cured?" Anko asked in confirmation. Kushina shook her head. "She can, but it will take longer than you think, I cannot dedicate my time to it with the current world situation. And I am not sure if Tsunade wants to help." Anko scowled, but nodded her understanding.

Kushina focused her gaze on Anko, who stiffened. "So what do you want to do Anko?" Kushina asked, her tone friendly, but the undercurrent stern. Anko blinked in confusion "I thought I would be joining Oto forces." She replied.

"I am not forcing you too just because I am Orochimaru's successor, that would make me the same as this Amachi person." Kushina replied "I will fix the prototype combat seal so it no longer causes you random bouts of pain, and remove the failure of a chakra transfer system regardless of your choice."

Anko's eyes widened "Thank you… I will fight for Oto if you let me." Kushina smiled back, and tossed the woman a headband. "First order of business is to settle in, and bring Isa-chan to Karin then."

"Yes Ma'am!"

* * *

Kakashi sighed silently in relief as he saw the Konoha's massive walls, nearly repaired, in the distance. His team, aside from Neji took surprisingly few wounds despite being outnumbered, and in certain cases outclassed.

He was gratefull Kiba's and Choji's opponents found taking him down more important than finishing them off, granted, Choji would be nursing an headache for a while longer, while Kiba might have gained an irrational fear of spiderwebs, but it was better that death.

He was surprised Neji was able to kill his cousins without any apparent remorse, remaining stoic, and quite clearly fearless of the possible reactions to a branch member killing two main house members. 'He is also far to calm and composed for someone who killed his family.' Kakashi thought with a frown, but decided not to prod, for all he knew the boy was putting up a front, but only the likes of Inochi could properly analyze it.

Kakashi was quite a mess himself until Kushina and Naruto slammed some sense into him.

Which brought him to his next, and what he considered real problem. 'The dead team we found where not a group true ANBU. It was a public secret Danzo did not completely disband ROOT, but nobody ever found proof.'

He frowned further as his ANBU mindset analyzed further, taking in all the rumors he had heard in the jonin lounge, the amount of patrols he had spotted both inside and outside of Konoha. 'That man.. Danzo had far more ROOT troops that expected… and Jiraya never returned with Tsunade… something is wrong here.' He mused.

Once checked out by the gate guard, he quickly send Choji and Neji to the hospital, Kiba went home while Kakashi and Shikamaru headed towards the Hokage tower to report.

It was clear Danzo was displeased by the missions failure, although he seemed slightly mollified the enemy did not get their hands on live Byakugan wielders. Kakashi expertly kept his expression neutral, but inwardly seethed at the man's casual writing off of lives.

After the rapport, the pair left, Shikamaru went home. Kakashi went to the memorial stone, as he watched the names of his sensei, Rin and Obito, he wondered how he started to waste his life like this.

He never really honored them by just sadly starting at their names. Danzo was trouble, so he would follow his Sensei's steps and fix it himself. 'For that I need to gather my friends and find out more about my enemy. Knowing Danzo, he will start a war in some kind of attempt of world control. He cannot be trusted to look after the leaf.'

His resolve set, he went off, making plans as he went.

AN: What is this?! A wild bonus chapter appears!

Lovable awkward Naru/Hina, Temari getting threats on her person, don't jump to conclusion folks, they might die next chapter! ;)

I might have had Kushina assign a pet name because Isa-chans name is goddamn hard to write. Sue me. For those thinking Kushina is to 'friendly' remember that the illusion of choice is a powerful one.

Dregus, Guest reviewer: Curse you minder-reading readers!

Fritter, Deathmvp, Wyrtha: I have my reasons for killing Kimi.


	29. Chapter 29

Danzo allowed his displeasure to show as the copy-cat ninja and the Nara left his office. The enemy successfully managed to steal a lot of classified documents, even he did not know what was missing or not as only the third Hokage knew the full contents of the room the Kyuubi container had ransacked.

That a genin managed to nearly blow up a section of the tower, after infiltrating it without his agents noticing was making a mockery of his extensive training programs. A detail that displeased him greatly.

Danzo knew Konoha's security was to lax, but for a group to hit three targets at once, only spotted once well outside Konoha showed major weaknesses. 'I need to officially take the Hokage hat, moral will take a blow with Tsunade's betrayal and this infiltration.. how do spin this in my favor.' The man thought, steering his thoughts into more productive ways.

He quickly send out his ROOT ninja once he had a plan, assembling the collective clan heads for him to officially take the title. 'I will use this infiltration mission as a proof I need to become Hokage… I will write off Tsunade as a traitor to the leaf, but I will need keep an eye out on Jiraya, I will need to ward that perverted fool far away from Konoha without telling anybody, moral would plummet further if all the three 'sannin' are gone from Konoha.' Danzo planned in his mind as he settled into the improvised council room, the Nara clan head already lazily making his way in, throwing a weary look towards Danzo.

Outwardly Danzo showed nothing 'He will be a problem.' He thought.

* * *

Neji looked like he was hewn out of stone as he calmly reported to Hiashi he killed both his daughters who turned traitor. The man himself was iron faced too, not given away any emotional response to the murderer of his two daughters, his last links to the wife he loved.

Hiashi dismissed Neji after the rapport, blinking away a tear as he realized he nearly lost everything now. The only way he could preserve order was to make Neji the new heir, keeping the leadership of his clan in his own family line, perhaps repaying the debt he felt he had to his brother for failing him again.

Neji meanwhile made his way to the leader of the branch house, quickly and quietly explaining his plan and gamble. The man was dismayed the youth took such a risk after killing the potential heiresses, well aware Hiashi could have killed the upcoming prodigy with a single handseal.

As Neji further explained his plan should he designated heir, the man shook his head, but couldn't help but agree. Althought the risks where great, with the elimination of Hinata as possible heir, there were no other children to take the seat in Hiashi's line of family, and it would be worse if another family line in the main branch would take leadership.

He'd just hoped Neji would not change upon becoming the heir.

* * *

Danzo smirked as the council of clan heads played to directly his hand, he assigned two 'public' root agents to become his advisors, meaning unless another attack directly on Konoha happens, he is in full control of the leaf now.

With his authority he could now put more pressure on Shibuki, the supposedly spineless leader of Taki was showing quite some backbone over the letters that were exchanged. Danzo suspected the man would fold upon having some _personal_ time with some ROOT agents, but doing that before he became Hokage would be dangerous if the people like the Nara found out. He quickly assembled a team, telling them to keep themselves unmasked until they were near Taki to avoid suspicions.

He needed the seven tailed container to be silently absorbed into his ranks, so that the likes of Akatsuki did not know about her existence in Konoha. That way he could have his hidden ace without the burdens that came with her kind.

She was a bit older that he'd liked, but he was confident he could break her nevertheless.

* * *

Kushina smiled wickedly as the messenger snake poofed away, the report she just skimmed through showing that her spy assigned to guarding the gates had excelled himself once again. Correctly recognizing a leaving root team, who obeyed the instructions to the letter about their mission, which was delivering a letter to the leader of Taki to retrieve a person while acting like normal ninja.

The gate guard/spy recognized them, and ordered a large inspection, which conveniently included the non-classified part of the mission scroll.

'Danzo might be able to kill emotions, but forgets that they could be needed to properly infiltrate or other tasks ninja need to do involving people without directly killing them.' Kushina thought with a smirk 'So he is making his move on the Nanabi girl. I am surprised he did not earlier.' She mused. 'Still, it gives me time to intercept them, and send my own team to grab the girl.'

Kushina frowned as she went through the list of people she trusted closely 'I will need to send Naruto again, their connection as tailed beast containers that have been mistreated would make convincing her to join us much easier.' Once again her motherly and leadership warred inside her, this time the leadership side won out, much to the motherly sides dismay.

'Well, this will be the last time-sensitive mission I have unless the thing with Mizu pans out, why does that Terumi woman be so hard to contact.' Kushina thought. 'Now who to send… Taki is most likely aware of me, so I can't go myself, I can safely send Guren, she is unknown towards Konoha and Taki… I can slot in Anko if we make a convincing background story for her temporary disappearance, making the replacement squad more believable' She suddenly frowned with realization.

'Temari is helping Naru-chan with his wind manipulation for a month and a half.. this mission could easily take more than a week. I need to convince her to go along… and I don't know if Naruto has problems with Anko, or that Anko has any lingering problems with Naru-chan. Best to find that out first.' She thought with a scowl.

She send a man to get the woman, and brought her attention the seals Anko had brought, having put them a bit too far in the corner her mind. This time she looked more closely at the seals. 'Whoever made this definitely had some knowledge with Uzumaki sealing techniques, but is trying to mix and match them with more rigid techniques the rest of the world uses. This person is either improperly taught or did not complete his or her training.

Somebody knocked, and with a 'Come in' from Kushina, a familiar purple haired woman entered her office. Kushina put aside the sealing designs, temporary storing away the possible Uzumaki survivor until she had a scouting team available to find it out the location of this supposed 'summoning island'.

"Anko, back in Konoha you told the reason why you disliked Naruto, do you still hate him now?" Kushina asked neutrally. Anko shook her head. "Excellent, then tomorrow you have your first mission as Oto-kunoichi."

Anko fidgeted on the spot. "Are you sure you want me to work with Naruto?" she asked. Drawing a surprised look from Kushina. "Why not?" Anko blinked. "Well I did hate him for something he probably didn't knew… and I could have been there for him since we were both disliked without raising eyebrows." She rambled, the last thing she wanted was to draw the woman's ire.

Kushina slowly nodded. "I see…." She spoke slowly. "I honestly do not have a problem with it, as you said, you were both in a bad spot and you held on to your pride as woman, one of the few things you did have for yourself." Anko gave a slow nod, conceding the point. "So just apologize to him." Kushina finished.

Anko blinked. "Why would he believe me?!" she yelped. Kushina sighed. "He forgave me for not being there for 13 years Anko. During the exams was most likely your first meeting, I don't think he will have any grudges against you."

Anko blinked 'That is surprisingly… logic.' "I see… I will." Anko stammered out. Kushina shot the other woman a hard glare. "Do it now, you will be briefed later today, and you will most likely. You will find Naruto training with Temari, a suna nin, in the training area close by." Kushina thought for a second. "Tell Temari to come here please while you are there." Anko nodded and set off.

* * *

Anko quickly located the right training area, where a frustrated Naruto, and a group of clones where collectively glaring at their leaves, while Temari was going through a long kata using her fan as a blunt weapon.

"Temari?" Anko enquired "The blond girl stopped swinging his fan around, and turned towards Anko "Yes?" she asked. "Kushina-sama wishes to speak to you." Anko said, unsure how to phrase it. Temari nodded "Keep visualizing Naruto." She advised, before she set off, leaving the pair alone. Naruto growled at the advice, but soon focused his attention back to the leaf, ignoring Anko.

Anko watched Naruto silently for a handful of minutes before deciding to speak up. "Brat.. I mean, Naruto. Err" she hesitated

Anko stood nervously in front of Naruto, who looked up at her confused. "Look.. brat… I.. errr. I am sorry" Naruto tilted his head , trying to remember if the purple haired woman ever did something to hurt him. As far he could remember, the first time he saw her was during the exams. "For what?" he asked.

"For not being there as a fellow outcast" she snapped. Naruto looked confused at her "Look, I was hated for being Orchimaru's apprentice. You for Kyuubi, we could have toughed it out together." She snapped. "And you are saying you're sorry you didn't?" Naruto still asked puzzled. "Partially, I also disliked you for the fact I would be forced to bear your children." Naruto looked aghast at the idea itself. "Yea, I know you didn't know, but I still let it get to me. For that, I am sorry. And uh… iconsiderdtokillyoubackintheforest" She finished hurriedly.

Naruto nodded slowly, putting the pieces together. He gave a warm smile. Apparently unperturbed somebody admitted wanting to kill him "Nothing to apologize for, you were put in a bad unpleasant spot. And you didn't kill me, and you don't want now right?" Anko nodded carefully, his face turned serious "Who was responsible for that childbearing nonsense order?" he inquired. Anko grinned bloodthirstily, reminiscing some pleasant memories "Ah don't worry about them brat, I had my fun with them." She said dreamily, mumbling about the different bloody tortures she had done on the elders.

Sadly for Naruto, the mumbling was loud and understandable enough for him to hear.

Naruto backed off wisely, not wishing to be the one she would 'recreate' the scenario on, that grin informed him it would be quite unpleasant. "Well… I'll see you later?" he asked hesitantly, the woman just nodded dreamily, lost in 'happy' memories.

He ran, like Kyuubi was after his manhood. Training forgotten.

* * *

Temari entered Kushina's office "Kushina-sama, you called for me?" she spoke formally with a bow. "I did, I have to favor to ask from you Temari." Temari raised an eyebrow in response. "What do you wish to ask Kushina-sama?"

"I know you are solely here to train Naruto, but he is needed for a mission that might take more than a week to complete. Do you mind joining him during this mission?" Temari mind started to whirl, trying to figure out the why. "What is the mission Kushina-sama?" she asked.

"The mission is to retrieve Fu of Taki, the container of the nanabi." Temari was startled 'Talking about getting a demon container like it is nothing?!' she thought. Kushina smiled slightly at the surprise. "She is being mistreated like Naruto and Gaara were before I came along. Danzo has set his sights on the girl to replace the loss of Naruto."

"I understand, you want to send Naruto to convince her as a fellow container?" Kushina nodded. Temari smiled "I agree, I presume you have a good plan?" Kushina nodded again, now with a feral smile gracing her features. "I do indeed, You will be briefed later today. Prepare your things and tell Naruto and Anko to do the same.

Temari exited the office, heading back to the training ground, running into Naruto whose skin tone was a bit lighter than usual. With a raised eyebrow in curiosity she asked "Why did you stop training?" "Anko… well I don't want to be near her right now" Naruto replied. "Why?" "…Don't want to be here subject when she is going to recreate those torture things she was talking about before I left." Naruto replied plainly.

Temari shook her head at the apparent craziness. "Right… Well Kushina-sama has a mission for us later today, get yourself ready for it." Naruto nodded, and set off.

* * *

Guren stepped in Kushina's office, being summoned soon after returning from a patrol keeping their eyes on Kumo's forces, the Raikage getting twitchy in the non-war war situation. 'Did something happen while I was busy?' she wondered as she took in the rest, she saw Naruto, a blond haired girl slightly older than him she didn't recognize, and some purple woman she didn't recognize either. 'Who are they?'

"Ah, Guren, you are here. Allow me to introduce you to Temari, daughter of the Kazekage, and Anko, Orochimaru's first apprentice. Temari, Anko, this is Guren, wielder of the Shoton bloodline and team leader of this mission."

Seeing Guren slightly surprised expression, Kushina decided to elaborate. "I know this is sudden, but we are on a time limit. Danzo made an overt move to gain the Nanabi container, A girl named Fu. There is more information in this file." Kushina said with a wave of a small folder. "Surprisingly, Shibuki refused to simply hand over the girl, and there has been some suspected letter contact between him and Danzo."

"However Danzo has decided to send some people, probably trying to capitalize on Shibuki's supposed cowardice. You are to eliminate the ROOT team, who are traveling unmasked until they get close to Taki. Since Taki does not know their physical appearance, and none of you are 'famous' enough to recognize aside from perhaps Anko, you will infiltrate Taki and convince Fu to join Oto, or dissuade her to fight for Konoha and its allies." She commanded sternly.

She threw a file at Naruto, who caught it. "Here is some information you can use in your arguments to convince her to join. She is also a mistreated demon container, so you are our best shot to convince her to join us." Naruto nodded, understanding why he was the best shot.

"You will intercept the ROOT team soon after they cross the Taki border, thanks to the summon snake system we know roughly when they left, and which routes they could take. Once there, Naruto and Anko can summon some scout snakes to inform them which route they decided to actually take and intercept them."

Kushina handed Guren another folder. "These are the most recent patrol routes we have observed, sadly Taki, despite effectively being an hidden hamlet.." Kushina quipped about Takigakure shinobi force '… they control and gather information well, however their communication with Konoha is subpar from what my spies observed, wear the Konoha headbands that are stored once you leave Oto territory and bluff yourself a way through if you have to."

Kushina frowned suddenly for a moment. "Should they by some miracle recognize Naru-chan…" Naruto groaned silently at the nickname, much to Temari's amusement. "… tell them the entire 'Konoha lost its jinchūriki' is a lie to the gate guard, but keep him out of Shibuki sight then… in fact, it is best he stays out of the Taki's leader sight in any case."

"Understood Kushina-sama" Guren intoned, expertly hiding her own tiredness and surprise of the mission. "Any questions?" Kushina asked, nobody responded. "Very well, you will leave at the west exit immediately. Don't worry Guren, I will inform Yuki-chan that you had to leave on an important mission." "Thank you Kushina-sama"

"No problem" Kushina replied with a smile. "Now go!" The squad shot off

AN: Fic is now up for a month, and I surpassed my own 75k word goal. Oh, don't think because of the triple combo I am going back to the chapter per day thing. Nooo way I got time for that ;)

Writing Anko is hard… methinks I screwed up.

Digitize27: In hindsight, I completely forgot to think up a harsher one.

Guest: /not so subtle hint. Who says Kushina approves of Naru/Hina? And she is one tricky woman (Chap 30 will have more) ;)

Ncpfan: Hope this chapter covers Anko. Kushina/Tsunade need to wait for the next home-chapters.

Ryperiour2: I considered it, but how I set up the world situation, Naruto doesn't have an awfull lot of time to save princesses or slay demons. A few anime only things will be used.

chim3ra1988: Kimi is hardly the last character I will kill off *evil laugh*

shadow, Dave: One tiny mistake and I get pounced straight away :P *Grumble* fixing.


	30. Chapter 30

As the Nanabi retrieval squad left her office, Kushina heaved a sigh, sending her son out was harder than she thought after the mission to Konoha. To distract herself, she told one of her returning guards to tell the Hyuuga girl, Hinata, Naruto brought back to Ota to be in her office in a hour while she would check a project in her lab.

She double checked that her personal lab was empty, and silently opened an hidden door. Even Karin was not aware of this small hidden lab, reserved for her most personal projects. She quickly checked the status of the two men, who moaned in agony from time to time. 'Tsk, the Senju DNA is expanding to aggressively for the three quarters subject, Il need to apply the next batch of counterdrugs sooner than projected.' She thought with a frown, scowling at the single sharingan eye, stuck in the mangekyō form 'That eye hogs more chakra than projected too, luckily neither subject died of chakra exhaustion yet, but the half/half subject is still tethering on the brink.'

'Those old Uzu legends better contain some truth, although with those words Kyuubi had said I have a good suspicion who this 'father' was.' She frowned. 'Shame the old legends never described what the 'beast' was that he defeated…' she suddenly frowned. 'That sounds like the line of nonsense they fed Konoha's younger generation. How did he defeat an apparently powerful beast?'

She momentarily thought about the supposed tools the man had. 'Did he manage to store it into some kind of item? Like the sage tools Kumo likes to parade time to time. Or did he split it up too like Minato did, making this beast the 'mother' of the tailed beasts.' She sighed. 'I can only speculate, hopefully I understood the part of the children, and my own clans connection to the youngest child correctly. And I made the right gamble not giving two of my trusted Oto warriors a new sharingan eye as originally planned.'

'That would mean that this Negato person is a child between an Uchiha and A Senju or Uzumaki… I can't but help and wonder if that was a voluntary union. Most likely not considering how the last 'loyal' Uchiha behaved… Mikoto really must have been one of the rare good ones.'

She gave the red eyes another glare. 'Transform soon you resource hogging eyeballs.' She cursed, finishing the last actions she needed to do to keep the two experiments alive, heading back towards her office to meet the Hyuuga girl.

* * *

The retrieval group did not immediately set off to the exit, first they made a quick passage to the armory, quickly changing themselves into authentic looking Konoha shinobi. Naruto decided to promote himself to Chunin by donning the vest. Making the group outwardly a two chunin, one special jonin and one full jonin formation. Slightly off the book, but not strange considering the situation, and the importance of the target they were supposed to retrieve without setting alarm bells to outsiders.

They travelled quickly, using their first few breaks to allow Naruto, Guren and Anko to flip through the respective folders and memorize the contents. Burning them after they were done.

The next day the passed through the edges of Oto claimed lands, which had extended westbound, absorbing the supposed cursed grounds Taki never laid claim to. Once they crossed the invisible border, they hid their Oto headbands in a scroll Guren carried, and donned their authentic Konoha headbands.

"Never thought I'd be wearing one of these so soon again" Anko had remarked with a smile. "Far too soon for my taste" Naruto had shot back.

They soon located the most likely route the ROOT agents would take, thankfully not running into patrols, which Kushina had noted they were still more focused on Iwa despite the damage Oto managed to wreak.

They arrived slightly earlier than scheduled, and Anko and Naruto soon send out a small swarm of small snakes. However as the deadline closed, neither received any news from their summons. Worried, Guren ordered the pair to send out more, directing them to more outward locations, Guren started to fear the ROOT troops blended themselves into Konoha's expected patrol schedules, an extra patrol would escape their notice.

Half a day after the snakes where sent out, one returned, informing them of a potential group. Showing them the ROOT group travelled far closer to the Iwa/Taki border than expected, but sensible in its own way. It also was most likely the cause of their delay, being inspected by their own forces.

It also meant the group had a very, very small window to eliminate the patrol, lest they either get caught by the Konoha patrols near Iwa's borders, or the fairly wide patrols Taki send around its own hidden village.

They moved with haste, relocating towards a location Guren suspected the ROOT agent would take, Anko and Naruto sending out more snakes to keep tabs on the ROOT team. Guren guess was spot on, it was a dense forested area between two rather large and steep hills.

Guren send Naruto to the opposite side, ordering him to dispend shadow clones as he went to prevent the enemy form escaping. As only Guren and Anko had any assassination skills, Temari being a wind mistress in a dense forest was hardly a stealthy fighter.

The waited tensely, snakes slithering front and fro mimicking true wildlife. The ROOT agents rushed past, missing the hidden clones, running well into the killzone. Together Guren and Anko struck, catching the lead agent by surprise as Guren sank her crystal blades into his throat. The man behind him reacted a moment too late, Anko's poisoned Kunai digging deep into his shoulder, the pair tumbling to the ground.

Guren sprang from her kill to the next, who made a hasty defense, rendered useless by the snakes springing from the ground, biting and constricting him, giving Guren the opening to quickly slash his throat open too while Anko down below finished off the struggling man.

The rear guard shot away, attempting to escape, handily jumping above the striking snakes. Guren shouted a curse, reminding Anko she messed up. The pair gave chase, the man soon approaching the edges of the kill zone, Naruto clones dispelling their henges and leaping towards the man, attempting to slow him down.

The real Naruto also joined the fray, initially mistaken for a clone, the rapid punch the ROOT agent hit him did hurt him, but allowed Naruto to clumsily grapple with him, forcefully unbalancing the pair and sending them to the ground.

The ROOT agent handily flipped Naruto off him, sending him harshly into a tree, Naruto barely managed pull himself away from the kunai that followed him, narrowly ducking under the follow up strike that tried to get his head off. The next blow scored a long gash on Naruto shoulder as the agent showed superior hand to hand combat skill, easily countering Naruto's own attack.

Before he could move in for the kill however Guren shot down from the canopy, Anko hot on her heels, forcing the agent to turn and face the blue haired woman and her crystal blades. As the pair exchange violent blows, Anko circles around and attacks from behind.

The man nearly avoids the strike, but is immidaitly beset by Guren, who carves a deep wound into his chest, as he staggers backwards, Anko shoots forward like a striking snake, planting her kunai into his heart from behind.

Before anybody could properly recover, Guren was already snapping out orders. "Naruto, summon a big enough snake to swallow the bodies and send them to Kushina-sama, she might be interested in the. Anko, treat that shoulder wound Naruto has and clean out the blood out his clothing the best you can. I am going to hide the signs of battle and get Temari."

With a weary nod, adrenaline still sizzling hotly in his blood, Naruto summoned a horse sized snake, which after the instructions devoured the body whole with gusto, following Guren to the other three.

As Anko did her best to patch up the wound, Naruto glared at the tree he had been thrown into, disappointed at himself he barely managed to keep up, Anko saw this and spoke "Don't worry about it brat, you are good for your age, but that guy had more experience on him." Naruto did not respond and kept glaring. With a sigh she continued. "Don't compare your fight with him with Gurens, it was a two on one, not comparable, got it brat?"

With a sigh, Naruto nodded, Anko using a flask of water to wash out the worst of the blood out of his clothing. "Well, that's as good as it gets, don't go showing off your war wound to the gate guards now understood?" Anko said with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

"Hai Hai" Naruto droned as the pair made their way back, just in time to see Guren bury the last of the evidence of battle underground with a doton jutsu, a bored Temari watching. 'Am I really needed for this mission?' the blond suna girl wondered.

Guren inspected the area one more time. "All the evidence is cleared up, the second man was carrying the letter, since Anko didn't give him the time to burn it we got our way in. Let's go." She summarized calmly, and soon set off towards the direction of Taki. Several hours later the group was intercepted by a patrol, after 'identifying' themselves.

Having the letter as proof, they were soon blindfolded and guided underground, walking through a series of twisting caves before emerging in a round valley, when their blindfolds where taken off, they saw a large lake with an enormous tree that would be standing out in the forest of death in the center, its large branches covering the entire top of the valley, allowing beams of daylight through, giving the entire place a mystic feeling.

Despite the beauty of the place, which thankfully all of them managed to keep in to keep up the apparent emotionless ROOT appearance, the elder pair of woman where displeased, they both where thoroughly confused, and would be unable to leave through the tunnels they came in with. Meaning even if they managed to convince Fu, getting out would be hard if they girl didn't know an exit herself.

They were soon guided to a relative large building near the lake, recognizing they were close to meeting the leader, Guren ordered the rest to stay outside as she had a talk with Shibuki. As she entered the man's office, she immediately understood why both Kushina and Danzo saw him as a spineless person.

The long black haired youth, Guren estimated him slightly above eighteen years old attempted to look firm and intimidating, but his build and his eyes utterly ruined the attempt. Since Guren, and by extension Kushina was unaware about the exact contents of the letters, Kushina wrote a plan to bluff their way past.

The initial step was to let the youth give the game away himself, so Guren silently handed over the letter with a stern face. The young man successfully managed to keep himself calm under the glare Guren was sending him, and quickly opened the letter.

The boy snarled out after reading the letter. "Do you really need to prepare my cousin for war?" Guren remained stone-faced at the unexpected family connection. " Danzo-sama is certain war is coming, your cousin will be involved one way or the other, Danzo-sama wishes to make sure she is ready."

The boy frowned, and inwardly Guren got nervous, afraid Kushina had gambled wrong on Danzo keeping up a more 'benevolent' appearance towards Konoha's allies. Her worries dispelled as the boy slumped backwards into his seat "Will she come back after this thing is over?" he asked, despair clear in his tone after a minute of glaring weakly at Guren. "Yes" she lied through her teeth.

The boy stared at Guren again, trying to discern if Guren was lying, but utterly failing to get anything from her emotionless façade, he suddenly momentarily smiled. 'What is he up to?' Guren wondered. "Very well, as I said in the letters, she will not come easily. It is up to you to convince her to come with you." He said dismissively.

Guren was grateful she managed to keep herself from blinking in surprise, and she droned out. "That will be not a problem." Anger flared on Shibuki's visage. "You will not force her you hear me!" he said loudly. "Understood, where can we find her?" Guren droned again, but inwardly nearly dancing at the provided exit route.

Shibuki's reluctantly gave instructions to the edge of the town, his anger still visible on his face. 'It is up to Naruto now to convince her' she thought as she marched out of room. Quickly collecting the rest of the team as she left the building, and following the instructions.

* * *

"Congratulations Itachi" Black Zetsu said in a mocking tone. The Uchiha turned towards the plant man who had arisen from a tree. "For what?" he asked neutrally "You are now the last Uchiha" The Black part mocked again. Itachi's eyes widened "How?" he demanded. White Zetsu took over "He was killed in the Uchiha district, somebody took his eyes and his manhood." "Was it Danzo?" Itachi asked with an edge.

"It wasn't, a team was send out to capture an infiltration team Oto, it is logical to assume they had the body parts." White Zetsu looked dreamily "We can't eat those" Black Zetsu snapped to his counterpart. As the man plant bickered with itself, it missed a moment of weakness from Itachi, who sagged down, nearly falling to the ground in despair.

'How… am I going to redeem the clan now' Itachi thought to himself. For a moment he wanted to give in into his hatred for those who had slain his brother, hunt them down to the ends of the end of the planet. But he resisted the maidens call for revenge. Recovering his stoic posture.

He turned around, leaving the bickering man plant to itself. His mind whirling on how to deal with the new situation. With Hiruzen and his brother gone, he had no reason to stay with Konoha, his clan now relegated to the dustbin of history. 'Where have I gone wrong.' He brooded.

He would carefully consider his next action.

* * *

Tobi frowned, Zetsu having delivered the news to him first before the plan man left to taunt the supposedly last Uchiha in the world. The Otokage, Uzumaki Kushina 'You have ruined another potential plan of mine woman, I will get my revenge on you for that.' He thought darkly. Angered that a potential recruit, and an Uchiha far more moldable that Itachi ever would be was now gone.

What angered him more however was that the young Uchiha's eyes where gone, the insult that there could be two more possible Kakashi's running around with eyes that did not belong to them made the man very unhappy indeed.

'I must restrain myself for now' he reminded himself as he reigned in the worst of hate, Zetsu had a rough idea where some of the bases where of Oto, but could not dedicate himself to the search, time-wasting requests from other members of his organization needed to fulfilled too, the rest of the time spend on trying to gather usefull information to halt the rebellion against his puppet Mizukage.

* * *

Kushina frowned as Hinata all but scampered out of her office, she knew the girl was shy, but Hinata brought it to a new level. She had to carefully prod and nudge to find out what the girl saw in her boy, and she came to the conclusion it was just a childish crush.

Furthermore, she found the girl too weak. 'Naru-chan needs a strong woman like me at his side… not this girl.' She thought as she started to plot ways to gently separate the pair. She also started to think about the girls and woman in Oto that she would find more suited for Naruto.

'Naru-chan might get a bit angry at me for this, but it is better for him. I am sure he'll see that.' The woman thought about interfering in her sons romantic live. Just like she well aware she starting to push his patience with the snuggling and other close contact whenever she could, but she had no intention of letting up despite her sons wish for more privacy. 'I have plenty of time to make up for after all.' She thought.

AN: Kushina did inherit some of Oro's things, she just hides ehm better ;) Utterly failed at Shibuki.. but I didn't know how to deal with him otherwise… traitorous muse.. giving me a boatload of ideas how to deal with Fu.. but Shibi, nooooo.

Agrond: Still unsure if there will be an encounter, they are laying low, and it would be hard for the group to survive it.

Guest: Hope this chapter covers they why. Yukimaru and Hanabi, honestly did not think about it, was just showing Gurens motherly side. The pervert will stay off screen for now, he might get a snippet later.

chim3ra1988: World overview probably coming after this arc.

Npcfan: Suppose the flow from serious to joke was to abrupt, drat.

Wyrtha: Ah, afraid that particular OVA did not happen in my verse. Hence that there was no recognition from Naruto. Shibiku has a bit more backbone because despite Taki's horrible status (Chuunin as village leader, srsly?) they need him slightly competent not be ousted when the Konoha stuff went down

Guest: Highly unlikely, writing the tidbits of romance I do already feels like pulling teeth.

SV: Thanks for your good review, I see your point how I screwed up writing Hinata at some parts. Sorry, not killing characters on demand, they'll die when the plot god demands them to.

Guest: There might be some process saving or demon slaying, to all reviewers, feel free to suggest!

Maddogandre: Do normal books tell on the cover who the hero gets together with? ;)

Next update Monday or the day after.


	31. Chapter 31

The Nanabi retrieval group quickly made their way towards the edges of town, approaching the looming valley walls. The nature was wild, and they saw ruins of collapsed buildings. "I don't remember Taki ever being invaded." Naruto commented as he saw that.

Temari nodded, trying to remember herself. "It must be of Taki's glory days then, before they took heavy losses during the first shinobi war. They never produced a ninja worth noting afterwards." Guren theorized. Anko nodded in agreement.

"It must be around here, are you sure we are not being followed Anko?" Guren spoke softly. Anko nodded her head, having discreetly dispersing snakes ever since they left the small populated area. "Nobody around, unless they are really good."

"Naruto" Guren spoke, drawing him away from observing the ruins. "The information is still correct, although we did not know Fu is Shibuki's cousin. So be careful with any arguments you have relation family." She was surprised when Naruto's scowl deepened at the information. "He must be a coward than if he allows his cousin to live in this crappy area…" He gestured towards a half collapsed shack, and upon closer observation Guren noticed it was patched left and right. "… in that ruined shack." He finished.

Guren couldn't help but grimace in disgust herself, the roof didn't look water tight, and the wall looked like they were held together by a prayer instead of structural integrity. As they came closer, the door suddenly flung open

"What do you want?!" The girl asked harshly, her orange eyes burning with anger, her mint green hair unkempt, a single orange hairclip hanging helplessly in it. "Are you here to fight?!" she hissed after taking the in the startled group, Anko and Temari had their hands close on their weapons. Her posture was cocky, assured she could fight a good fight.

"We are not here to fight." Naruto said as he stepped forward, cutting off Guren. "So why are you here?" she demanded. "We are here to keep you out of Konoha's hands miss seven." Naruto replied bluntly, figuring if the girl was anything like him, she wanted the truth straight.

"I would hate to fight my replacement later on." He added, strengthening the fact they were not from Konoha and hinting he was also a demon container. "Replacement?" the girl couldn't help but parrot, in response Naruto started to channel a small amount of Kyuubi's chakra.

**Making friends with that misshapen bug?** Kyuubi mocked in his mind. 'Says the fox with rabbit ears' Naruto shot back, eliciting a deep growl from the fox before it retreated deeper into his mind.

After a moment Fu's eyes widened. "You are like me" she gasped out. "Chomei recognizes Kyuubi." Naruto couldn't help but pout slightly. 'Not slipping Kyuubi's name?' he thought to himself. **They know better than to give away my name **he heard the fox speak from the depths of his mind.

"I was Konoha's container, treated the same as you are." Naruto spoke, ignoring any further comments the fox might have. "So those letters promising better treatment where all lies eh? As expected." Fu commented, her distaste quite clear. "Indeed" Naruto agreed. "Danzo would have turned you into a emotionless drone to use for the 'good of Konoha' before discarding you when you break or die. Or he would sacrifice you to Akatsuki when they come."

Fu did not recognize the name, but snorted in agreement. "So what do you want?" she asked again, less hostile this time. Naruto smiled, glad he managed to get the girl listen to him without blowing him off. "Ideally, we would like for you to join Oto." He said upfront, the girl snorted dismissively. "Otherwise, we would like to keep you out of Konoha's hands." He added honestly. "But as fellow container I would not advice that, your cousin effectively gave you up to us, and Taki would not be able to protect you against Akatsuki."

The girl frowned "You mentioned that Akatsuki again." Naruto was surprised she didn't know, his mother had given him the impression Taki might not be large, but that did intelligence quite well despite their size. "I am surprised you do not know, they are a group of roughly ten S-class missing ninja hunting the all the tailed beasts for some mysterious reason, and by extension, us containers." He paused for a moment. "You might not know it, but you will NOT survive the extraction, my mother is an unique exemption."

Fu looked intrigued at the last part of the sentence, before sobering up at the realization that aside from a bad life, she had now a group of maniacs after her head. "Ugh.. just great, I am hated and now I have a group of power people after my head." Naruto chuckled, understanding the feeling. He remembered he felt unhappy when he learned such a group was after him.

"So, I join you or die?" Fu spoke after a moment of thought, but Naruto sensed the edge under the question. "No, we are offering you a choice. You can join Oto and be free from being mistreatment." He pointedly ignored the snort of disbelief. "… or you could go with us, and be free, at the risk of being hunted by the likes of Akatsuki, and when they find out, the rest of the villages who want a new jinchūriki, getting it most likely by ripping nanabi out of your corpse. Or you could stay here, and become Danzo's puppet when he finds out about our ruse." Naruto summarized.

"So what's the catch with joining Oto?" "None, if you do not want to, you will not have to go out on missions, and only have to fight to protect the village." Naruto replied, his mother had made several offers, keeping the girl out of Konoha's and Akatsuki's hands was vital, and she was willing to pay a good price to do so.

"You lie!" she hissed, and Naruto sensed a small amount of tailed beast chakra emanate from her. "Nobody would give me such an…" she started to rant, Naruto had shot a quick look to Anko, mouthing 'Are we still alone?' Anko nodded. He interrupted her loudly. "You forget, I am an a container, and my mother, the leader of Oto, was one."

Fu's rant stopped silent, and she just stared for a while. Her cocky pose she had seemed to sink in herself as she just looked at Naruto. She asked, nearly a whisper "So I will be Fu, not the bug girl… not demon bug.. just Fu?"

Naruto smiled kindly. "Yea, Fu from Oto. If they have a problem with you, they got a problem with me, and will kick their asses together." Naruto spoke encouragingly. "You promise?" "Of course, there are only nine of us, so we need to stick together." Naruto spoke, smile still on his face.

Fu pulled herself together, allowing herself to hope once more that her life might actually improve. She looked at the rest of the group and was surprised.

Guren smiled warmly at her, glad the girl seemed convinced, whether mission was a success or not took the back seat the moment she saw how the girl lived. Anko was disinterested, all the soft and touchy touchy feelings where not her forte nor interest. Temari smiled kindly, yet inwardly winced slightly at the reminder of what Gaara had have been because she was too afraid until Kushina came along and set them straight.

Her inner demon, Chomei was supportive too, but the gigantic, happy go lucky bug, calling itself lucky seven whenever it had a chance to was always up for watching its container get into trouble.

She gave it one more thought, before saying "Alright… I will come." The smile Naruto beamed at her made her feel funny inside for some odd reason, and she was sure it wasn't the seven tailed bug.

* * *

Kushina bit back a curse as she sifted through the Uzumaki scrolls Naruto had stolen from Konoha. Although the scrolls contained the things she wanted, namely the location of the Shinigami shrine, it lacked the details of exactly what a summoner could do once they called the death god, and before their soul ended up as lunch.

Thankfully she did catch a passage mentioning the freeing of eaten souls, and there were no mentions of any time limits before a soul was digested and lost, so her dear husbands soul, and more importantly, the other half Kyuubi should still be present.

'I still don't understand why he split the Kyuubi.' She thought to herself once more 'The eight trigrams seal is much more powerful, despite its greater allowance of interaction with Kyuubi's chakra then my four trigrams reinforced with sixteen stakes seal.'

She shook herself clear of the thought, knowing from experience she could waste hours trying to find out what her insane.. power-hungry… whatever her supposedly husband was thinking in his final moments.

She took the coordinates described in the scroll, sadly they were Uzu map based coordinates, and she was lacking in an a Uzu based map. She spend the next hour calculating, and wondered if Minato, or one of his predecessors had visited the shrine. 'Or did they summon a death god without thinking about maintaining his shrine that allows them to do so? I wonder if the jutsu would ever backfire.' She held back a small snigger at the idea of the Shinigami reaping all the souls in Konoha as punishment.

She double checked her math, glad she paid attention as a young girl when her uncle explained her the importance of maps, and how Uzu guarded some of its secrets through them. She drew the probable location on the a normal map, and once again bit back a curse.

The shrine was located reasonably close to Konoha, and on the wrong side of looking from Oto. Meaning she couldn't pay a quick visit, as she would have to circle around the long way. Even worse, she only know on a map where it was, she still had to get through whatever old seals that where working to fool passing travelers, or prevent scouts from finding the shrine.

That meant she had to choose, send the available scout team she had to find the possible Uzu survivor or send them to find the shrine. She once again wished she had more personnel available, but with the bull headed Raikage getting impatient, she had to show a strong front, to ensure if he wanted to vent his frustrations, he would vent them on Konoha forces, not hers.

Despite his bull headed exterior, he was still a tactician, quite smart and to top it off, a good ninja, so he would go for the soft spot first instead of possible over extending himself into an unknown opponent.

She couldn't afford an extended skirmish with Kumo's forces, not without Konoha properly distracted by Iwa. 'Damn you fence sitter, didn't you hate Konoha. Show the senile old backbone of yours.' She ranted in her mind as Onoki still hadn't moved overtly against Konoha, something that went completely against her expectation, and her spies in Iwa where still unable to figure out the 'why', something that frustrated her.

The only way she saw that could possible entice Iwa in doing something despite their obvious reluctance would be the destruction of Taki, which would severely hamper Konoha's northward supply chain, despite keeping the Konoha nin and arm's length, the Taki did supply all the patrolling forces for the northern part of the land of fire.

But despite the hard glare Kushina was sending Taki over the map, it wasn't like the village would suddenly explode.

* * *

Shinkiro organized the reports in his office, pleased that Suna now had its own, reliable source of water with their successful incursion of the land of rivers. After the invasion they left a sizeable gap in Konoha's forces, which meant that its allied village in the land of rivers, Tanigakure, had to fend for far more themself.

However, instead of using an overwhelming assault to conquer the land, Shinkiro opted to use a very slow, low intensity skirmishing to wear down Tani, although the complete control over the land of rivers would be pleasant indeed, it would also trigger a full scale war with Konoha, the giant he had poked in the eye and other vital spots earlier.

So instead he slowly chipped his way through, seizing a major river system to prevent the enemy from poisoning his forces, and making Suna far less depended on the mother nature.

Shinkiro both cursed Iwa's passiveness like Kushina did for these reasons, slowing down his own plans, but was also grateful for it, the barren wasteland borders Suna shared with Ishigakure, a traditional Iwa ally was very silent. Some would say too silent, but Iwa send a bare minimum of forces to Ishi, and Shinkiro responded in kind, both to keep a larger force at the ready should Konoha respond, and non-verbally show Onoki he was also far more interested in the wounded giant.

He spared a brief thought about his daughter under Kushina's care, but ensured himself she was just training Kushina's boy, not getting into wanton fights and causing needless property damage.

He couldn't help but shiver suddenly, but could not explain why. He decided blame Gaara, the boy was no longer blood thirsty, and actually gathered a good amount of respect for his eagerness to fight dangerous opponents.

'Gaara must have found a strong opponent, Tani has more powerful shinobi than I predicted.' He mused as he remembered the reports about opponents Gaara had dueled.. and crushed.

* * *

Pein, god of Amegakure scowled as his angel Konan brought him the reports of the ever developing world situation. He was annoyed he did not foresee Konoha's invasion by Suna and Oto, nor the disproportioned amount of damage the pair managed to leave on the hidden leaf village.

Pain had no love for the village, but it under Hiruzen's leadership it was central to upholding the fragile peace he needed to gather all the bjuu to turn it into a more permanent one.

Now however, that plan was in tatters, he had already seen the delay his plans would incur when Yagura, the sanbi container would fall to the rebels. He was unsure if the rebel leader would be able to take down Yagura, but in the shinobi world, one had to expect the unexpected. After all, he had taken down a legend himself.

Now however, that delay seemed insignificant, in the possible upcoming fourth shinobi war, the demon containers would be used as weapons of war, on the surface one would think that would provide him with an opportunity to snatch them away, but in practice it was far more likely one of them would die fighting without their demon extracted, meaning another delay in his plans as they had to wait for the demon to reform.

And the ones that were not send to the front lines would be squirreled away like precious treasures to kept at all costs. Garnering unwanted attention to his organization once he stole the first one, locking away the remaining ones even further when the other nations learned what happened.

Further, his nation he ruled over was dead center between three opposing sides, Konoha west, Suna south and Iwa north, and his own non Akatsuki forces where stretched keeping his relative small nation safe, and not used as another battleground again.

And even if he managed to snatch them, both sides would notice his people doing that, and would swarm down on them, instead of trying to figure out if they lost contact with their container, or simply decide not to care as they would in peace time.

Deep inside his tower, hidden from view, Negato, the real body sighed. His dreams of peace so far away.

AN: Aiming for the though not trusting girl outside, squishy, afraid and wants a hug girl inside with Fu. Chomei will be that friend you always get into trouble with, yet when punishment comes down, said friend always seem to avoid the worst.

A bit of world situation in the chapter… all the bits I could write wouldn't fill up a full one, so hey, let's combine it with a chapter I have trouble writing with after convincing Fu.

Pein's ruling over Ame is a bit hard to describe, usually he is too busy being "I AM" Unless I missed it, I can't tell if he was a tyrant, or a relative benign ruler… he could be an uncaring one for all I know.

Guest: Not jealous, she has a strong opinion, and quite controlling. I'l see if I can sneak in some Hana/Yuki.

chim3ra1988: Glad to see he was believable. Hinata will seek help. Kabuto will retain his 'lame' past… but he will react differently… *evil laugh*

Guest: Good thing Kushina is a sneaky woman. ;)

Deathmvp: Slightly changed the wording of the last chapter with this update, it was to 'mean'.

Ncpfan: Thanks again for pointing it, slightly changed. Still not happy about it though

claymore78: Slow as in slow in plot progression? I think am I setting quite a high pace.

Guest: Sorry, I am the kind of writer not afraid to break hearts and kill characters. Glad you like Anko.

NeoJubiSannin1870: Thanks, it was a burst of inspiration.. quite scary imagination... And oh hey, update! ;)

SPark681: Aah, what to do with Itachi. And having plenty of fun writing my story. I will do my best to keep it up.

roger9481: Its inspired by, not an adoption.


	32. Chapter 32

"So… is it possible for me to take some revenge on Taki?" Fu asked as she finished packing all the things she truly cared about in her shack into a bright red cylindrical bag, which she flung diagonally on her back.

Naruto shot a look towards Guren, his own response would be a loud 'yes' but it wasn't his call to make. Guren seemed in thought for a moment. "That depends" she decided to admit, and Fu looked disappointed, but seemed to have expected it. "Do you know a way out of here through that cave system we came in with?"

Fu brightened slightly "I do, I know several routes out… they will be guarded however." Guren seemed to accept this. "What do you have in mind for your 'revenge'?" she asked as she withheld the urge to lean against the shacks wall, unsure if it would hold up against her weight.

Anko leaned in closer from a worn down chair, the idea of chaos tingling her interest, while Temari suddenly had the sinking feeling she did not want to be here. "Do you know about the hero's water?" Fu asked, getting four head shakes in response. "Hero's water boosts your chakra levels enormously at the cost of your lifespan." Guren frowned 'That is a dangerous thing for the enemy to have… but what does it have to do with her revenge?'

"In the center of the village, at the base of the great tree, there is a small cave system leading through to the roots of the tree. The area is filled with natural energy, and the chakra charged water collects in a small shrine which forms the base of the hero's water." Fu rambled on. Naruto blinked, his mother had covered senjutsu, the gathering of natural energy into oneself , but he had the impression only certain summon clans had access to area's with thick natural energy for it to become sensible to a humans senses.

"That is interesting, but what does it have to do with your revenge?" Guren admonished mildly to get the girl back on track. Fu scowled for a moment, before visible reigning in a biting response. "Since I am seven I have been forced to risk my life getting the gathered water." She hissed.

"Risk your life? Natural energy should not be dangerous unless you willingly immerse yourself in it." Naruto commented with curiosity. "Say that to the statues of those bug scythe men halfway the cave then. "Fu snorted

Temari was feeling lost "How does this natural chakra stuff transform you into a statue, and why wasn't Fu effected?" she couldn't help but ask, eliciting another scowl from Fu. "Because she is an demon container, she has far more chakra than the rest of the village, thus it would take far longer for her to reach the point of no return if the natural chakra… invades… I suppose is the best word… her chakra system."

Fu was surprised "Well that explains why I had to do it every year. How do you know this?" she asked with unabashed curiosity. "Mom did some senjutsu training, but she never had the time to finish it before her master died and she had to take over. She did explain the theory to me since I'll most likely learn it when I am older." He explained. Fu looked fascinated at the concept you could learn how to use the energy she felt every time she entered the cave.

"Once again, this is all very educative, but what has it to do with your revenge?" Guren cut in again, slightly annoyed the conversation kept going off track. Fu scowled, before simply biting out "That place is important to them, they took important things from me, I want to take something important from them."

Naruto couldn't help but think 'That sounds… petty?' he blinked with sudden realization. 'It does boil down that revenge actually is, you hurt me, I hurt you back…' before he could ponder it further, Guren cut in again.

"Sorry Fu… but it sounds very risky for just revenge." Guren tried diplomatically. "For you, not for me and Fu." Naruto cut in. "They must stockpile this water somewhere right? You, Anko and Temari can take that out while Fu and I blow up the source. That way Taki can't use the stuff against Oto."

Anko smiled wickedly, signaling her approval for that plan. Temari looked lost while Guren held back a sigh. 'What happened to; Get in, grab the girl, get out? ' But she was well aware how important it would be for the girl, and Oto would have removed an disadvantage. So she decided to see if they could plug all the holes in Naruto's makeshift plan.

"Alright, We will need time delayed explosive tags than, we can hardly leave if the village is burning, they won't let us. We could stall for a day, but I think we will garner too much attention buying the things here." In response, Naruto rummaged through the different pockets on his chunin vest, before pulling out a tiny storage scroll. He unsealed the contents, revealing a small ink pot with a brush.

"I can make those tags, I just need paper." Fu unexpectedly spoke up. "Will any paper do?" Naruto nodded yes, causing Fu to shoot off, searching through the mess she made grabbing the most important things to her. "Ah, here it is, not crumpled too!" she crowed.

"That will do excellently" Naruto praised his fellow container as he made several clones, who started drawing with him. "I was not aware Kushina-sama already taught you that much." Guren admitted as she watched Naruto work confidently. "I admit my training is a bit scattered thanks to that mission to Konoha, but I am confident enough I can make these seals."

Guren found the statement a bit odd, but decided to drop it.

The next hour and a half the group looked over a map Fu quickly drawn about the locations relevant to the Hero's water. Fu explained how the collection of the energized water was actually the first step of a long process, drinking the energized water raw would turn the drinking person to stone. Something that made sense after Naruto's explanation of nature chakra earlier.

Guren was glad all the buildings where clustered, so they could take them out with a well-placed detonation plan, which was reasonable close to the preferred exit, and Naruto had ensured her that the tags would go off after a few hours

Guren looked at the tags, raising a quizzical eye towards Naruto "Are you sure they work? I don't recognize them." She commented, expecting seeing the normal large explosion symbol in the center, with several 'pillars' of other symbols around it, instead she saw a large spiral around the explosive symbol, with several pillars arising outward along the spiral, but not connecting to itself.

"Of course, do you think my mom wasted her time teaching me?" Naruto replied, his offended feelings clear in his tone. Guren shrugged 'Must be Uzumaki sealing thing.' She wrote it off. Naruto huffed "Well, those are yours, I made some special ones" he gestured to some bigger sheets, which subsequently a bigger seal on them. "For the underground shrine."

Anko looked interested "What's the difference?" she asked. "They make a bigger explosion, and need more chakra to trigger too, but with me and Fu there that shouldn't be a problem." He replied, fully turned towards Anko, missing the gleeful sparkle in Fu's eyes.

Guren walked outside, double checking the environment before returning. "I still can't believe there are no patrols inside Fu, they really must be confident about their security." Fu snorted "It's not like they got the people to spare. The town is even more ghostly since that invasion in Konoha by you guys."

Guren nodded, secretly pleased on how Fu worded the sentence, clearly not association herself with Taki. "Very well, according to the plan we cooked up earlier, we will plant our tags twenty minutes after you left." Both demon containers nodded. "Now I am certain Kushina-sama is interested in this Hero water, but don't risk yourself turning into those.. statues understood?"

"Yes mom" Naruto said cheekily, getting a whack on the head from an embarrassed Guren while Anko chuckled in the background. "Yuki-chan is a handful enough Naru-chan." Guren shot back. "Now go!" she said in a stern tone, indicating the time for playing around was over.

Naruto and Fu left Fu's shack, and quickly ran through the ruins to the edge of the lake. "I don't see anyone" Naruto confirmed as he looked around, ignoring Fu's eye-roll. "Duh" she said as she started to sprint over the water, Naruto right behind her.

Fu flawlessly lead him to a small pavilion nestled between the massive trees roots, hidden from view from the outside. She lit a small rusty lamp that was hanging off a small post and silently walked into the cave.

Naruto followed her, and after a minute of walking down he already felt the air was…different. A couple of minutes later he saw the first statue Fu talked about and understood why he named them, the vaguely humanoid statue had nearly cartoonish bug eyes, upper arm replaced by a vicious looking scythe while the lower legs looked more like those of a bug than of a human.

He failed to repress a shiver, and quickly picked up the pace with Fu, neither interested to become such a thing.

Another handful of minutes they came into a large cave, and Naruto felt the weird chakra thick in the air. "The bottle I get every year is in the center." Fu spoke softly "I need to slowly chip off all the chalk so I don't break it." "Can you try to break it free while I place the tags?" He asked.

The girl hesitated, before nodding, darting quickly between the few rocks and statues before carefully freeing the large bottle. Naruto followed her lead, and placed multiple tags in a semi-circle around the shrine. "I got it" Fu spoke triumphantly. "Are you done?" "Yea, I am" Naruto replied as he triggered the last tag.

The pair made their way out as soon as they could, Fu snuffing out the lamp as they came near the cave exit. Naruto shivered as he felt the odd air leave him again, but still felt slightly odd inside and quickly inspected himself to see if he was turning into stone somewhere.

"You'll feel weird like that for a while." Fu said, recognizing the behavior. Naruto scowled, but nodded. "Guren, Anko and Temari must be nearly done themselves. Let's go to that cave, we need you to guide us out after all." "Out…." Fu echoed softly as she took the lead.

It suddenly sank into her she would truly be free from all the name calling, glaring or willfully ignoring her. 'Perhaps I don't even have to beg anymore to be trained….' She thought with a spark of hope, one that was constantly getting lit as she saw he fellow containers apparent wisdom and power.

They again ran over the lake, this time to the more inhabited cluster of buildings, running through the empty street as silent as they could, before shooting past the few buildings that processed the hero's water.

Naruto took a moment to feel stupid as he remembered his own demolition attempt at the Hokage tower, and quickly tried to spot any tags, but found none.

They got close to the cave, and slowed down, trying to see any guards or the rest of the team. Both jumped when they suddenly heard a voice call out "You made it" "Guren" Naruto hissed back in surprise, placing the voice.

Anko laughed softly "Surprised brats?" she ogled the bottle Fu was still holding, although she nearly dropped it when Guren called out. "So that's the magic water? Doesn't look anything special."

Before another time consuming discussion could break out, Guren cut in "Is there a reason Fu is still holding it?" Fu shook her head "The water can be sealed away. We didn't want to stay in the cave any longer."

Naruto look surprised something with so much chakra could easily be sealed, but quickly whipped out an empty storage scroll for Fu to place the bottle on, and in a puff of smoke it disappeared. Guren took the scroll and stashed it away in her clothing.

"Alright Fu, show us the way out." Guren ordered, Fu nodded and took the lead down into the dark caves, grabbing a new lantern from the posts near the entrance and lightning it. "Somebody take another one for at the back, otherwise you'll spend most of the time stumbling around"

"Anko" Guren simply said and Anko silently followed Fu's example. The group took off in a single line formation. Guren was slightly worried when Fu paused a couple of times, taking the possible routes with narrowed eyes as trying to remember hard.

After the third time she asked carefully. "Are you sure you know the route?" She didn't see Fu's scowl at being doubted. "I do, but they change it every three days, opening and closing exits with a doton jutsu. I am making sure I am not mistaking an old route with the correct one." She said back.

Anko at the back held back a whistle, she couldn't imagine how much of a headache it would be to remember a new route every three days, or the code for it, in the darkness the rocks all looked the same. "We trust you Fu, do you best" Naruto spoke encouragingly from the center of the formation."

Fu smile was unseen, but inwardly she preened at the praise. The group continued the journey silently for another couple of minutes before Fu suddenly turned off her lamp and halted, causing Guren to nearly bump into her. Anko followed Fu's lead moments after, plunging them into the darkness.

"Four man patrol up ahead" she said silently. Guren frowned, she had expected to take them out quickly in a short engagement, but Fu's action bound her to the silent approach, which wouldn't work in the near total darkness, making it easy to stumble on the dark cave grounds.

Anko agreed unknowingly with those thoughts, and silently spoke to Naruto. "Brat, summon a pack of poisonous snakes, you can spare the chakra. They can take those suckers out."

"Understood" Naruto whispered after nodding in the darkness, before realizing the gesture would be unseen. With a "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" under his breath, with a poof, he felt a pack of snakes slither beneath his feet.

"Did you hear something?" he heard one of the guards speak in the distance. "Take them out." He hissed to the snakes, and felt snakes slither away, he suspected he saw Fu shiver in the darkness as the snakes made their way past her legs. 'I hope the guard goes down the same way they do in the books with that cheesy line'

He saw the light of the guards coming closer, and they would soon reveal the group when the lead one suddenly paused "Snakes?" he asked puzzled, before his companions could responded however, the lead ones lunged. The guards broke out in consternation, but before they could do anything about the snakes a sudden cry of "Shoton: Rokkaku Shuriken!" confused them momentarily.

Moment later they also had to deal with a barrage of crystal shuriken, nailing the pair at the center, with the lead one already stopped twitching, a multitude of poisons having claimed his life. The last surviving member tried to turn and run, but the snakes where to close, and a barrage of kunai from Fu and Guren stopped him, allowing the snakes to sink their fangs into their flesh.

The group reignited their lanterns, and walked over to the downed bodies as the snakes dispelled themselves. Guren was about to ask if it was save to use a burying jutsu when the entire cave rumbled, a distant explosion was heard moments later.

"Damn brat, I thought you said a bigger boom, but we heard it over here." Anko commented as she turned towards Naruto, whose eyes turned huge. "…They weren't supposed to make such a bang where they?" Anko said moments after taking the expression in.

"…I expected the nature chakra to increase the power… but not like this." He said in subdued voice. Temari hissed a "Silence" to the group as soon Naruto finished his sentence.

"...I hear water" Temari and Anko said the at the same time after the moment of silence.

AN: Honestly, my plans for Taki went all over the place, from an invasion as they got Fu out, to a silent extraction with a bonus encounter against Kakazu to well this.

I know according to the OVA its 'once every one hundred years'. Well either it is a lot of water, or it is bloody useless if you think about it, hence my change.

To the rapport/report folks: It's a holdover from my native language. I will try to correct it over the chapters, but a quick search showed I did it…a lot ^^" 31 is fixed now

anon1399: Heard of it, never watched, might make time to do so.

chim3ra1988: Good to hear, writing him is going to be a pain though (pun!) Fu was also hard to write initially, since she is effectively an empty character with the amount of show time she has.

Guest: Hehe, you shall see. I got no clue, I optimistically decided it was a contraction for 'super this story'

Guest: I might change certain immunities or add additional weaknesses for the things I judge to "OP"

Wyrtha: Fu will be 'trained' but has no experience. She is going to be a couple of years older, but I aint going to judge ages after I judged Yugito on 18, and she ended up being 29 _

Ncpfan: So am I, but that might be a got a chapters worth of snippets.


	33. Chapter 33

Seconds after the group established they heard water, a longer, constant rumble shook the caves. "Shit Gaki.. it sounds like something…massive…is…falling…down" Anko trailed off, sparkles slowly creeping their way into her eyes. "You are so making me a stash of those tags."

Fu and Temari looked confused, Naruto meanwhile imitated a fish beached on land. 'They shouldn't have been that powerful.' He thought. "What do you mean, something massive falling down?" Temari snapped. "The brat here took down that massive tree." Anko pointed out like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Guren tsked. "You could have warned us the explosion would be that powerful. We need to move quickly now, these caves are be below the lake and I don't want to find out if the lake is capable of filling the caves or not now that they are clearly broken open."

Fu snapped back at attention 'Not going to drown while trying to escape!' she berated herself, taking the lead. The group quickly set off, leaving the bodies unburied.

With their high pace, stealth forgotten, they did not see the group coming from the side path until it was too late. "Who is there!" somebody shouted. Anko cursed and threw her lamp to the startled Taki group, the lead enemy, recognizable as a chunin from the ducked under the lamp. "What the hell woman?!" he shouted before Guren impaled the startled man on her crystal blade.

Naruto and Temari shot past Guren, forcing the man behind the killed chunin to duck under Temari's wide swipe with her closed fan, only to get a kunai driven into his skull by Naruto. A man wearing a jonin vest behind them dashed forward, katana raised to strike down the pair only to get clocked in the face by Anko.

The woman that was rearguard backpedaled, and spotted Fu who was looking unsure how to join the fight. "What the hell are you doing bug bitch, they are the enemy, fight them!" she shouted. "Shut up!" Naruto roared as he tossed the man he killed aside and dashed to engage the woman in a furious hand to hand fight.

"Sen'eijashu!" Anko shouted as she launched a trio of snakes towards the back flipping jonin, who skillfully decapitated the snakes before they could bite him. She ran forward, and suddenly noticed her solid 'thuds' of her footsteps turned into splashes. "That water level is rising, we need to finish this!" she shouted as she used her kunai to block a slash, she sidestepped as she felt Guren approach from behind, who continued the duel with her crystal blades.

Knowing what to do, she repeated her actions with the root agent, and quickly sprinted around the man, attacking him from behind. "Raundo haru no mai!" the man suddenly shouted, and in a flashing shadow blade appeared in his free hand, and he quickly spun around, a third shadow hand with a blade slashing a large crescent above his head.

Anko's reflexes stopped her on time, avoiding getting herself cut apart. Guren blocked the blow with her crystal blades, sending her backward. Anko spat string of curses involving the man's female family members, farming equipment and anatomically incorrect positions as she reopened the fight with the man.

Fu nearly stumbled with a blush as she heard that while she was running to help Naruto and Temari deal with the rearguard woman. Naruto thought with surprise 'She can curse worse than Tayuya!' 'Why the hell are all Oto kunoichi so foul mouthed?!' was Temari's line of thought, having encountered Tayuya and heard more bad jokes about her fan than she ever wanted to hear.

The woman handily shoved Naruto into Temari, unbalancing both, she leapt backwards, forming handsigns as she sailed through the air. "Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!" she shouted before expelling a stream of high pressure water. Naruto and Temari dived to the sides, Naruto kept rolling as the woman pushed the high pressure beam after him. Before she could hit him however, Fu disrupted her attack with a kick.

Naruto quickly went through his short jutsu list as Fu engaged the woman in hand to hand combat, but it was clear even to him she was lacking in experience in actual combat. He glanced around, trying to judge the distance between him and the walls in the flickering lights of the four lanterns scattered around.

'I need some precision jutsu' he cursed to himself as he launched a multitude of chains from his back. "FU! DUCK!" he shouted. The green haired girl spared him a quick glance, taking in the rapidly approaching chains before hitting the deck. Naruto slightly altered their course, ensuring he did not hit her.

The woman leapt in the air to avoid getting skewered, Temari whose hidden fears where effecting her judgement, fully opened her fan, with a cry "Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu!" she launched a large cutting wind, which hurtled towards the midair kunoichi, who desperately tried to find something to replace herself with.

The distance was far too short however, and the wind sliced her in half before impacting roughly into the cavern wall, causing Anko to spit another stream of curses as she and Guren were still trying to defeat the man, who handily managed to keep himself from getting sliced apart with his shadow arm techniques.

There was suddenly a loud rumble, and the cave shook. "You fan-brat better not be the cause of this!" Anko roared as she lunged forward again, rapidly retracting her outstretched hand as the jonin nearly cut it off, he whirled to face Guren who attacked at the same time. As he did that, Anko awkwardly threw the kunei she was holding, scoring a glancing blow on his back, his vest absorbing most of it.

It distracted him for a split second however, and allowed Guren to entrap his blade and she stabbed him in the gut with her other. The man grunted in pain and wrenched himself free, leaving his blade entrapped in Guren's own crystal one and took a cheap shot at Guren face, who stumbled back in surprise.

He whirled around Anko's follow-up attack, who had a new kunai in her hands, making handsigns as he moved. "He is going to blow himself up!" Guren shouted, and moments later she saw a handful of shuriken and… a giant closed fan sail by.

The man took the shuriken without blinking into his side, but noticed the giant fan to late, which impacted into his arm breaking it, disrupting the seals he was forming. He stumbled, giving Anko the opening she needed to stab him in the neck, finally killing him.

"Nice throw fan-girl." Anko quipped as Temari stomped to her fan, fishing it out of the now ankle high water. "Shut up, I am trained to fight in a nice, big, open desert, not dank caves with chances of drowning." She bit out, her anger, annoyance and fear clear on her face. "Now can we go? I don't want to die!" she growled.

Guren rubbed her nose, the area the man managed to score a blow on. "Everyone alright?" she asked as she looked everyone over. "Then let's go, Fu, quick as you can." She ordered. The mint green haired girl nodded, and quickly grabbed a lantern, who thankfully was still burning, the water failing to put the light out.

Another rumble roared through the cave, accompanied by the sound of rushing water. "Is this place falling apart?" Anko hissed with worry. "It must be the thin walls they erect to hide the route to get in that are failing." Guren theorized. "Let's just go" Temari hissed.

They walked for another ten minutes, the sounds of large amounts of water approaching, to the groups gratitude the cave started to rise again, and soon saw an opening.

They exited into a valley. Fu stopped to enjoy the fresh air, but was pushed on by Guren who took the lead. "We need to keep moving, we don't want to be here when the Taki ninja return to investigate Naruto's fireworks."

The moved again, running out of the valley and leaping into the trees. After a while they came near to a clearing when Guren suddenly halted. "Who is there?!" she shouted.

Despite the soft sound, they clearly heard the flipping of pages. "Guren, the crystal maiden." A dark voice intoned. More pages flipped "Mitarashi Anko, snake sannin's apprentice. Kyuubi, Nanabi" the voice continued. "It seems investigating my old home has delivered me a variable treasure trove, and advance the organizations goals at the same time. It is a good thing I left my idiot partner behind."

The owner of the voice stepped into the clearing, his dark cloak hiding him well, but the red cloud highlights gave him away as beacons in a stormy sea. "Akatsuki" Guren and Naruto hissed. The masked man raised an eyebrow, barely seen in the dark and hidden under his headband. "You have heard of us, how interesting. It doesn't matter, two good bounty's and two jinchūriki, this will be profitable."

'I have a bounty?!' Guren thought shocked, surprised she was not recognized by it then in Taki. Anko subtly shifted, knowing enough this was an S-rank opponent, as strong as her old teacher. Temari shifted nerfously, well aware that despite her strength, she was horrible outclassed. Fu looked unsure to Naruto for a clue what to do, who in turn readied himself to engage the man. His mother informed him they almost always works in pairs, and this man just had admitted he was alone. 'He must be cocky.' Naruto mused, his mother's orders forgotten.

* * *

Kakashi had been busy investigating ever since his return to Konoha, and every waking moment he did not spend on patrols, missions or other duties he was talking to people, diving through the archives or prodding his old ANBU contacts for snippets of information.

During this he got glimpses of a rot that escaped the venerable third Hokage, numbers that didn't add up, people appearing without complete backgrounds and most disturbingly, people disappearing without a reason.

He was well aware Danzo launched a small witch hunt to find spies after the infiltration of the Uchiha and Hyuuga compounds and the theft of many important documents and scrolls in the Hokage tower, but these where long term, and their where for Kakashi's feeling a disturbing amount of orphans who disappeared over the years.

Yet Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how many possible political of physical opponents disappeared under the guise of being spies. And then their where the changes Danzo wanted to apply to Konoha, overhauling the academy, changing the requirements that every child needs to be tested for aptitude as a ninja. These where on the surface standard wartime protocols, but Kakashi was certain the warhawk would warp these into much worse.

However, there was only so much he could do alone Kakashi realized 'I can trust on Guy, but investigation is not his forte… distraction is.' He joked to himself before sobering up. 'Now…who could I trust and where can I gather them safely…'

The location was easy to find, at the edges of the industrial area there were plenty of ruined warehouses, now plunderd of their contents. While all the war related industries where rebuild with haste, the civilian, or secondary support buildings where left behind. That's why Konoha still had a beach's worth of sand left generously by Ichibi in the city perimeter.

Getting the people to gather was harder, but the usage of old call signs, ANBU style dead-drops in people's homes and other personal messages made the task easier than it looked. Kakashi had quickly and personally enlisted the help of Gai, Asuma and his old ANBU team. From there it snowballed quickly, and at the appointed date his clones memories showed more people slunk into the old warehouses than he had expected.

The collected group watched Kakashi expectantly, each seeing the usual, flippant and always late jonin underwent some significant change, his single visible eye hardened, the lazy expression he normally wore gone. Those who worked with Kakashi during his ANBU times recognized the particular look, the one of an ANBU commander on a mission. Most shockingly for most however, the orange book Kakashi that was seemingly to have glued to his hand was gone.

"I am glad you all found the time to come here" Kakashi spoke as he gazed over the group of assembled people, people he trusted explicitly after a long brainstorming session with the people he trusted. "I am sure you are all aware about our new appointed 'Hokage' had some skeletons in his closet." There were a few hesitant nods at this.

"I am afraid it will be more of a graveyard by the time we know the full truth however." He started to pace. "Did any of you find it odd Tsunade turned 'traitor'?" he asked. A few more nods, less hesitant now. "Yet the only one who could truly know on Konoha's side, Jiraya, never returned, despite being the favored Hokage candidate after her."

"Now this is a heavy implication, but I am afraid it is not a groundless one. Who has not noticed the sudden increase of masked 'ANBU' with black and white masks? We all suspected Danzo never completely disbanded his ROOT program… instead we find out he truly has a large private army. Large enough to give both the Raikage and Tsuchikage pause." He paused again for dramatic effect.

"Now where do all these people come from?" he gestured to a pile of files he compiled "It seems our 'honorable' Hokage has been plundering our orphanages, the Kyuubi attack truly must have been a blessing for him" he implied the math, suddenly parentless three year olds would be emotionless sixteen year old drones now, a prime battle ready age.

The assembled ninja looked concerned now. Kakashi momentarily toyed with the idea to let the demon container issue out, but decided not to risk his momentum on a gamble.

"Danzo has always been a warhawk, who knows what he will do in this tense environment, it is clear that he has no ethics at all, even compared to our kinds more dirty jobs. If he remains in command, it might even be our own children who disappear into his dark clutches." Kakashi spoke fervently.

He saw the consternation at what he was implying. "Yes, we need to keep watch, yet we cannot act now, there too few of us, and if I suspect about the Otokage is true, he somehow managed to avoid the assassination attempt the Otokage did on him personally, the same woman who took out me, Anko, Kurenai, the two elders and most importantly, the third Hokage." He mocked thought. "And for some reason, Danzo's considerable person army did nothing during this invasion. Either he knew, or decided to use it as an opportunity to advance his own cause."

"Now, do we want that kind of a person to lead the leaf to the future? Always balancing on the edge of war, and other nations might have issues with us we are not aware off because of Danzo's ROOT's actions."

"So what do you want us to do Kakashi?" Guy asked, and inwardly Kakashi was glad that beneath his loud exterior, his self-proclaimed rival was as sharp as ever and timed his question perfectly. "For now, we watch from the shadows. Danzo must be far stronger that we thought to survive the likes of the Otokage, or has some trick or technique to escape momentary death. We need to gather more friends and allies, as his private ROOT army is too large for just us, and we need to hinder whatever 'progress' he will try to inflict on the leaf"

This led to solemn nods, and soon the gathered band of ninja left, slinking into the shadows where they came from. Asuma and Guy staying behind on Kakashi's request.

"Guy, Asuma… I need your help." Kakashi spoke honestly. "I need to get back to my old top condition. For that I need strong sparring partners." Guy smiled. "Yosh, I will get you back to top strength in a month, or else I will climb the Hokage mountain with one hand!" Guy shouted with enthusiasm. Asuma looked unsure "I am not sure what I can help you with, but I will help where I can."

"Thanks, may the tree prosper." Kakashi intoned as the pair left.

AN: Erg, not happy 'bout the first part of this chapter, not happy at all. Not the reason its late thought, RL is bitch.

Guest/SPark681: Does any mission for Naruto in canon go 'right?' I am merely following tradition ;)

Deathmvp/Kenka/Frosty Wolf: Glad you found my twist on the hero's water believable.

Deflow: Itachi doesn't strike me as a forgiving person.

Wyrtha: Not one hundred percent to sure what to do with Fu, but there might be some double demon container trouble ;)

RedHotMito: Coming in a couple of chapters, but Danzo isn't a man who likes his plans ruined.

Guest: Fuma clan is on my character reserve should I kill off to many named Oto characters, but I doubt they will show.


	34. Chapter 34

'I have a bounty?' Guren thought with surprise. She was always held at the back, or out of sight to be Kushina's ace. Furthermore her 'nickname' implied the enemy was well aware of his bloodline ability. 'We must have lucked out Taki did not recognize me' she thought with worry, remembering the beehive of problems they created at their backs, and the enormous problem ahead of them.

"Now die so I can have your heads!" Kakuzu demanded as he charged forward, forming handsigns as he went. "Doton: Domu!" he exclaimed before his visible skin on his arms turned brown. He leapt into the air towards the tree the group was standing on.

They scattered, and with a flying kick he brought down the behind them tree, he immediately shot after Guren. "Let's see whose armor is stronger! Kesshō no Yoroi!" Guren countered as she turned to fight, finishing her string of hand signs. Engaging Kakuzu in a punishing taijutsu fight, their respective armors holding up to the assaults. Guren managed to grapple with Kakuzu, holding him in place.

Anko darted forward, seeing the opening she took no chances. "Sen'ei Tajashu!" she shouted, launching a horde of snakes towards Kakuzu. From his back suddenly a blast of fire erupted through the cloak with a "Katon: Zukokku" the amount fire looked pitiful compared to the wall of snakes, until it hit the lead one. A large fireball erupted from the impact point, destroying the attack.

A part of Kakuzu's cloak burned away, revealing four differently colored masks on his stitched back as he threw away Guren with his superior strength. "We got a real freak show here." Anko muttered under her breath as she warily circled around Kakuzu.

"Fu, do you know any fire based attacks?" Naruto asked as he watched with Fu and Temari from the sidelines, all three of them unsure if they should interfere. The trio below clashed again, Anko launched a fire dragon towards Kakuzu, whose back blue mask spit out a river of water into the shape of a wall, absorbing the attack. Guren launched a barrage of crystal projectiles at the same time, but Kakuzu's armor blocked them.

"I don't, I only know a few water element attacks that I am not very good at." Fu added dourly as the trio clashed again, Kakuzu's superior strength showing, less afraid to show off despite the nearness of the village than Guren and Anko. "We can't fight too long, we are going to draw attention." Temari voiced.

The trio in the trees watched grimly, until Naruto had an idea. "Attention is bad for both sides…but we can bluff our way through if have to when play our cards right." Naruto suddenly voiced, drawing surprised looks from Fu and Temari.

"That guy is to capture us, so if Fu and I both pump our tailed beasts chakra in the air, that will attract attention he cannot afford, perhaps Taki and Konoha will kill him for us." He argued, Fu was unsure, strategy was something she was not taught, just that she had to listen to orders. Temari nodded hesitatingly, agreeing with the logic.

"Well than, ready Fu?" Naruto asked, and Temari resisted the urge to run. Despite turning a new leaf, demon containers going demon still scared her shitless. "How many tails?" Fu asked hesitatingly in response.

Naruto blinked, realizing he had no clue how good Fu could control her bug's power. "How many can you handle?" He asked, Fu looked unsure "Two" she replied after a moment of thought. Naruto was confused why she was so unsure about it until it hit him 'They must have been telling her it isn't enough.' He beamed a megawatt smile at her, unknowingly causing girls stomach to feel funny again.

"More than enough, let's do this!" and in response, red chakra started to bubble around him. Fu followed shortly after. One tail formed, two tails formed. Naruto wanted to stop there, but he forgot a single, very important detail.

Naruto had told whoever controlled Kyuubi was with Akatsuki, there was an Akatsuki member in front of Naruto. Kyuubi was not planning to let him go free and have its power used as a mere distraction.

Kyuubi pushed another tail's worth of chakra, with its enormous bloodlust added up. Mortal concepts as restraint, strategy and limits left Naruto. And with a roar, he launched himself forward towards Kakuzu, whose fight halted when the fighting group felt the oppressive power of two tailed beasts.

Anko cursed as she saw a red blur accompanied with the sheer oppressive presence of a bjuu, followed quickly by another. Fu initially did not want to fight, thinking it was only to draw attention, but a few choice words from Chomei egged her into the fight. 'I am not going to be a helpless princess!' she roared back in her mind. 'Well show them Fu!' Chomei cheered, throwing more fuel on the fire.

Kakuzu cursed as he sensed the bjuu's chakra light up the environment, becoming a beacon for everyone to investigate. He wanted to form hand signs to blow away the possessed demon container away, but Naruto was to close and too fast and gauged into his arm he raised in a hasty blocked.

Kakuzu lashed out with his other hand, sending the Kyuubified boy away, only for him to get a demonic chakra head but, courtesy from Fu who formed her tailed beasts horned crown on her top of her head before ramming it into Kakuzu's stomach, lifting him off the ground and sending him flying low over the ground.

With a push of temporary chakra wings, Fu shot away before Kakuzu's rapid retaliating fireball could hit her, so focused on burning one of his menace's, he did not notice Guren running to intercept him as he slid backwards, forming handsigns as she went the moment she saw Fu go for the blow.

A crystal spire, rising from the ground with shallow angle, tore through his lower back as he was impaled by his own momentum, destroying his lightning mask, skewering him through completely.

Kyuubi, satisfied the enemy was killed reigned in its blood lust, and retreated to the back of the seal, allowing Naruto to regain control as he prowled, prepared to launch himself at the man again. He immediately worked to push down his tails, successfully pulling in one before Kakuzu spoke, his voice filled rage.

"YOU WORTHLESS…" he roared "DIE!" the entire group was startled that he was unaffected by the impalement, despite being skewered he rapidly formed hand signs before they could move to interfere "Fūton: Atsugai!" he shouted.

Air rapidly condensed around him, forming a shell around him and the impaling crystal, it quickly became visible as a white sheen, getting harder to see through. Anko not trusting it rapidly backpedaled shouting "Get away from him!" Fu hesitated, glancing at Naruto who leaped back, two tails trailing his form. With two flaps of newly formed chakra wings, she shot away after him.

The dome shimmered, and Guren managed to shout before it exploded. "Run eastward, do not fight him…" the rest got cut off by the roar of the winds, who tore a crater and leveled the surrounding trees. Naruto and Fu where far enough and fast enough to leap away. Anko got caught up by the shockwave, but her flexibility she managed to right herself before smashing into a tree, and handily dodged the incoming debris. Temari had fully opened her fan upon seeing the formation of the shell, and with a roar, she send her own powerful windblast to counter the incoming shockwave, negating the worst of it because of her distance from Kakuzu.

Guren managed to form a crystal shell around herself as she got tossed away, crashing through trees and bouncing through the forest. The moment the crystal shell grounded to a halt, Guren released it, and despite the disorientation, leapt into the trees to get a clear view of the sky. She roughly estimated the right direction, which was away from Kakuzu and set off.

Temari closed her fan after countering the shockwave, giving one more quick look before running away, and she wished she didn't. From his back, the masks came loose, some kind of black stuff forming bodies as the masked things dislodged the man from the impaling crystal. All her worries about regrouping fled her mind, and Temari ran as quickly as she could.

Kakuzu cursed himself for thinking he only had to deal with his two marks while the jinchūriki would wait as good pets to be retrieved. When the kyuubi brat charged in, he was surprised by the speed, and he was completely caught off guard by the nanabi girl that came straight after him, allowing the cheap combo the crystal bitch managed to pull on him.

His masks finally tore him free, and with a grunt of frustration he gathered the remnants of his cloak, giving chase would be useless, the marks split up, and with the tailed beasts chakra in the air, it was a matter of time before Konoha and Taki would investigate. If he pushed on, he would reveal himself, something that would certainly anger the leader of the organization. 'Damn brat, must have been his plan.' He ranted at the lost opportunity to gain money.

Anko did not look to watch if the wind blast was some kind of final revenge attack or that the S-ranked ninja could free himself. She knew she was helplessly outclassed, and with Guren shouting them to run, that was exactly what she planned to do. So only was worried about Guren and Temari, she was confident the two jinchuuriki got clear could carve their way through a small army if they had too.

'I just hope that suna fan-girl gets out safely. Kushina-sama will not be pleased if she dies.' Anko thought as she sprinted through the woods. She knew with her northward direction she had a solid chance of running into trouble, but getting away from the 'I don't care I got impaled' freak show took priority in Anko's mind in case he survived.

After a hour of solid sprinting, Anko turned eastward. 'I am responsible for bringing the team together, the kyuubi gaki can track in theory, but I doubt he has the knowledge how, I just hope the three kids stuck together.' she shivered at the thought spending the entire night hunting for kids, with the possibility of the S-rank freak show and the Taki/Konoha forces hunting them too.

'Yea, it better be gaki united.' Anko though with a scowl.

* * *

Too Anko's enormous disappointment, the 'gaki's' had split up. Upon bending back, summoning tracking snakes as she went Anko forgot she could send a messenger snake to Naruto, an embarrassing move she would never admit.

She found Temari first, the girl moving relatively slowly and carefully. But without anything to wipe out her scent, Anko's snakes found her quickly.

The pair resumed their journey, and soon found the trail of a foxboy and a buggirl.

* * *

Naruto called to a halt, he knew at this pace they would reach the Taki/Oto border in another couple of hours, and he would be walking into the outer reaches of the border patrols. "Why are we stopping?" Fu asked, it was clear for Naruto she was still fired up.

'She doesn't seem to have a lot of experience…' he mused to himself. '… they must have kept her in that shack, at least I went out on a few missions.' Out loud he said. "We are nearing the border, it is better if we can find the rest of the team before we try to cross it."

Fu nodded, happy to follow his lead. Naruto bit his thump and made a few handsigns, and in a poof of smoke a small set of snakes appeared. "Explore the area and try to find Guren, Anko and Temari." He ordered, giving a short visual description afterwards.

'How am I supposed to know how Guren and Temari smell?' he thought with a frown, one of the questions the snakes asked to find them. With a bit of glumness he realized he knew nothing about tracking aside from the very basics he got from the academy 'Another thing to learn… so much I don't know' he thought as he faced with another shortcoming.

The pair settled down, making a small hidden camp to rest, eating some rations. Naruto made some shadow clones to keep watch while he recreated a seal tag he had used, trying to figure out why it was so much more powerful.

Fu watched him for a few moments, before suddenly feeling bold and made her way over to him, resting her head on his shoulder and slowly relaxed against him. Naruto blinked in surprise, and froze, unsure what he was supposed to do.

He decided to let her be, and carefully worked on recreating the tag without disturbing her. Suddenly was a sudden headache, and he received the memories of a clone that dispelled who saw Anko and Temari approach.

The pair quickly found the camp, and Anko whistled "You move quickly Gaki" she spoke loudly, startling Fu, who blushed bright red as she shot to her feet. Anko noticed the tag Naruto just finished. "Planning to blow your way through gaki?" she asked with humor in her voice.

"Nah, I am trying to figure out why the explosion was so powerful." Naruto admitted. Anko grinned bloodthirstily "Figure it out quickly gaki, I want all my explosive tags to have so much bang." Naruto chuckled. "Yes Ma'am" he droned.

Anko nodded, pleased by the response. "Did you send a message to Kushina-sama that you single handily blew up a hidden village?" Naruto frowned. "I don't think they did that much damage." Anko shrugged, not really caring. "Perhaps, but it did some damage. Hand me some paper and lend me that brush. Kushina-sama might be able to exploit this opening."

Naruto did as he was told, but internally he was wondering if his tags truly could have done so much damage. He heard a snake hiss something he couldn't hear clearly before poofing away. Indicating the message had been send.

* * *

Back in Taki it was chaos. Naruto's explosive tags, far more powerful by circumstances they had any right to be be tore through the rock's and roots surrounding the shrine, cracking the bedrock itself, allowing the water from the lake into the cave system beneath.

The water initially spread slowly and away from the group, but as the currents tore the paths wider, more and more wather poured through, unsettling the roots who started to shift under the massive tree's weight.

The ninja of Taki started to pull together by the time Guren's group left the cave system, and formed a plan to counter the central's tree threating fall, the tags left behind by Guren and Anko went off, going off earlier than planned. The unexpected explosion send Taki's forces into disarray again, thinking they were attacked they abandoned their plans and set off to fight the non-existent enemy.

By the time Shibuki regained control of his forces, it was too late, unseen by the ninja, the tree had reached its tipping point, and its massive weight slowly started to pull some roots free from the lakebed and bedrock, and tore up or crushed others.

Initially the inhabitants thought they had lucked out when the tree started its majestic descend, heading towards the abandoned sectors, heading close to where Fu's abandoned shack was. However, despite the lake drainage, there was plenty of water for a respectable waveof displaced water that destroyed buildings nearest to the lake. The massive canopy splintered as it hit the ground, sending normal tree sized debris all over the place, the walls of the valley allowing the debris to rebound, ensuring no place was unharmed.

The majority of the ninja forces where quick enough to avoid being crushed, impaled or killed in another way, the civilians had time to hide, but with the majority of the cave system now flooded, there was no space for the people to hide.

The ninja tried to protect them, but the earthen walls they could erect where pitiful compared to the forces of nature, the ancient tree branches hardened by the nature chakra at the roots and sheer age broke through them, killing the helpless civilians behind the barriers.

When the fallen tree finally settled into its new resting place, Takigakure was devastated like a small ninja war had torn through it. Nearly no building was undamaged, dead civilains lay scattered, joined by the odd ninja to slow to avoid the danger.

Despite the massive devastation of his village, Shibuki and the senior ninja had other worries. They were aware that the tree was part of the genjutsu seal array that was crafted around the valley's walls top, and with the sheer amount of debris, ignoring the lack of the tree, they were certain the array that had hidden Taki for nearly a century was damaged badly.

They could only hope that their Konoha allies had not heard the sheer amount of noise the tree's fall had made, and that whatever or whoever the cause was of the explosion that triggered is was unaware of the damage they did.

Shibuki himself had another worry, he could not find the Konoha ROOT team, nor find Fu. He did not make the connection. Far too worried how to explain to Danzo that a team of his died in his village, his mind already going through the ways he could fake intelligence the ROOT team had left, dying somehow at Oto's hands, how impossible it sounded to Shibuki himself.

AN: Inspiration is cool stuff, making a 100 word short description of the fallout to a full page of death and destruction. Barely in time to keep my own promises though *embarrassed*

Guest: Some things might never be known to the characters, as everybody involved is either did or directly to blame. Jiraya is on the background for now.

Agnar: Perhaps, the chunin are indeed cannon fodder, but the jounin was one of the elite.

Wyrtha: One unit of catastrophe, big ass tree in the middle of a big ass lake, damn straight it does some damage. Kakuzu was hard to write, the group had to get away without anybody dying, as everybody is needed in the future, yet some information had to be revealed. (Why? Kukuku). I hope I did not make him overetly arrogant and made the lucky hit believable enough.

Agrond: One hearth and one pissed off ancient ninja.

chim3ra1988: Group made their exit before he could switch from arrogant to serious, hope it was believable.

Ncpfan: Glad the exit scenes where fun to read, they were damn hard to write! I hope I slightly broke the stark contrast between character development and conflict with this 'arc' with Fu.

Deathmvp: Frankly it was a last minute thing, but I didn't want to resort to the will of fire.

Peter Kim: Ah.. who knows if it's too late, you don't know how the world situation will develop with Taki's beating.


	35. Chapter 35

Kushina was surprised when the messenger snake appeared, by her own estimations the group only could be a day inside Taki itself, hardly enough time to bluff their way past to talk with the Nanabi container, that could only mean they failed to gain entry and where reporting a mission failure, or something interesting, or worse, bad, had happened.

That they managed to convince the demon container in less than an hour and executed some major sabotage was the last thing she had on her list of possible events. But Kushina was a talented leader, and immediately send out orders, sending a limited amount from her reserves eastward, and alerting her eastern border forces to prepare for war.

She had estimated Taki's response correctly, in half a day it was clear something big had happened, and the limited forces that opposed her own thinned out further. On a gamble, she informed her own spies embedded in Iwa's intelligence structure that something 'bad' had happened, hoping she could finally goad Onoki into action.

She succeeded beyond her expectations, a handful of hours after she had released the information into her network, one of the spies returned information that Iwa was rapidly mobilizing its own border forces, the old goat making it quite clear he was going to give Konoha a whooping in revenge of the damage the yellow flash did.

With some quick mental calculations, she send out a fresh set of orders after examining the maps she had on Taki and Oto controlled lands. She did not have the forces to grab too much territory, however the heavy broken land between Oto and Taki, some calling it cursed land thanks to the ancient remnants of large creatures you could find there was far more taxing on her forces that a map would suggest. Deep valley's, large tunnel systems and dense forest gobbled up troops without really protecting it to her standards.

Thankfully, nobody hostile noticed the possible gaping hole in her lines. And despite owning more, relative worthless land, it would actually free up some of her forces as the rough land of the land of waterfalls was tame compared to where her eastern line was now.

The extra free forces would be handy if her scouts indeed made contact with the leader of Kiri's rebel forces.

* * *

Kushina's predictions where off by two hours, but otherwise she had estimated Onoki's plan to invade Taki quite well. Despite the vagueness of what happened to Taki itself, it was clear something horrible was happened, as Taki withdrew more troops than expected to repair and reestablish their village and hidden cave routes while gently attempting to discourage curious Konoha and ROOT forces from following them to 'help' with whatever mysterious problem there was.

Onoki send his own son, Kitsuchi, to lead Iwa's forces. Under Kitsuchi leadership, Iwa troops assaulted the joint Konoha/Taki line near sea, and more land inward while across the line Iwa's forces made more aggressive movement to tie down the Konoha/Taki troops.

The gamble worked, and after a day of heavy fighting Kitsuchi's forces destroyed the blob of troops caught between the pincer, allowing Iwa free movement into the land of waterfalls. Iwa ninja flowed through the opening while Kitsuchi personally led a division to roll along the line while ordering breakthroughs further south, attempting to envelop more portions of Konoha's troops.

The gamble failed however, the Nara commander in control of Konoha's forces organized and ordered a well-structured retreat from the approaching Iwa horde, forcefully commanding Taki's confused ninja to follow along. Retreating southwest direction as he fell back. Willing to breach Taki's trust not to search for Takigakure to have a fall back point, unaware of the horrible state the village was in.

On the east side of the land of waterfall, Oto's forces started to make their own move. Kushina's well drilled troops rapidly cut their way through the thin Taki line, the odd Konoha squad interspersed between unable to meaningfully halt the advance.

The eastward line did not have a brilliant commander in command, not that it would have mattered, the limited reserves Kushina had send out included the sound four, who had rapidly smashed their way through the line, heading for the area they had suspected the commander was holed up.

Once again Kushina's well spread intelligence network paid off, and they were right on the spot they predicted to be, Tayuya quickly slaying the hapless commander and his second in command, leaving the eastward troops headless and ready for the slaughter.

Oto forces slowly advanced after the destruction of the Taki troops, securing the ground as they went, they made towards the new Oto border as Kushina had planned, disarming any traps Taki and Konoha troops left behind and exterminating pockets of survivors who tried to be saboteurs.

Anko had the group sit tight as the conflict erupted, and even slightly retreat west-ward not to get caught up, stil not having found Guren, unaware that the crystal wielding woman already had passed the border and was back in Oto territory, assisting the Oto commander in the assault while trying to find the rest of the group.

As Oto started to move forward, they were inspected, but before they could be interrogated Guren swooped in, and started to drag the group towards the main base, Kushina making it quite clear she was 'fairly interested' in what exactly happened, but glad that they survived their unexpected encounter with the man in black with red clouds and succeeded their mission.

While Oto started reinforcing their new border, the sound four led a strike group deeper into Taki territory, using the information Guren had given to see the results of Naruto's handiwork themselves if they could, and if given the opportunity, rob anything of value they could get their hands on.

* * *

Iwa assault pushed on relentlessly, and on the northern reaches soon crashed against new founded Oto's borders, sooner than Kushina had anticipated, unaware how quickly and efficiently Konoha had retreated from the northern parts after the initial confusion, taking Taki ninja with them as they went.

After the initial clash, Iwa troops quickly backpedalled, informing Kitsuchi of the unexpected development. After a long deliberation, while lower commanders advised for or against opening a second front. Kitsuchi decided to play safe and form an opposing line, while sending a report to his father with the request for advice.

He personally did not care that Oto took the perceived chance to grab some of Taki's holdings, although it was more than he wanted to give, they did indirectly safe Iwa lives by taking care of the troops on their side, and they clearly already decided what land they wanted.

He wondered if the same tactic he used on Konoha would work on the Oto line, from the reports he had it was clear they were on par with Konoha forces, something that was unexpected, minor villages forces usually inferior compared to the ones of major villages. Kitsuchi was unsure about Oto's strengths, and although he was confident they could beat Oto in the long run, Konoha could use the opening to severely harm Iwa.

He knew Danzo was no fool, and would milk the Oto/Iwa conflict for all it was worth before destroying Oto and engaging Iwa, resulting in most likely another drawn out war as Oto's supposedly ally, Sand would stop bothering Konoha in any way or form in order to avoid their wrath, perhaps even launching their own opportunistic attacks towards Iwa.

He just hoped the cranky old man in the office thought along the same lines, otherwise they were in for it the long run, the thing that happened in Taki becoming the catalyst for the fourth shinobi war.

* * *

A, the Raikage did not sit still, the moment the report hit his desk that combat had erupted in Taki, he made an aggressive probing attack towards Oto and Konoha borders each through the land of frost and the land of springs, but in both cases the troops were repulsed violently with heavy losses. Both Oto and Konoha ROOT troops unafraid to pursue and chase the troops back to the land of lightning, killing any stragglers they could get their hands on.

This resulted in another extended bout of skirmishing that worried Kushina greatly, but with some deft maneuvering and strict orders she managed to make Konoha bear the worst of the three-way fight before Kumo forces sulked back to their borders as both the daimyo's of the land of frost and the land of springs started lodging complaints to the daimyo of the land of lightning for allowing Kumo to use their lands as a battleground.

Unwilling to lose the friendship, trade and blood ties, the daimyo of the land of lightning reigned back the Raikage the best he could. Angered his chances of conquest where ruined, the Raikage refocused all his available energy on finding any links to the ones who took out Yugito, the Nibi container.

* * *

Danzo once again proofed that he was true to his own credo, and a better ninja than most in his own mind by not snarling or raging against the seemingly endless negative reports from the different front lines. The Taki situation seemed to completely collapse on itself, only the brilliance of the Nara commander preventing the situation to completely turning to a self-destructive rout.

He regretted sending the Nara clan head, and the finest Konoha commander to salvage the situation at the land of rivers, only to find out later that Suna seemed to have stopped their slow advance. Perhaps their best could have done better in Taki, but there was nothing he could do now.

'At least the minor groups like Prajñā Group are not assaulting Konoha assets, but the question is for how long' he mused, wondering which assets he could use to deal with them in a final manner. He suddenly frowned. 'The ones loyal to that old fool and rival Hiruzen are staying to quite… do those emotional fools realize the importance of the situation or are they planning something?' he asked himself.

He had some odd reports of a gathering of sorts, but the numbers and who was involved was unknown. The few spotted per-chance by civilians loyal to him where unsure on who exactly the ninja involved where.

Danzo wished he could drag all the loyalists either into root or T&I, but the T&I division where firmly in the hands of Ibiki, Anko's fate still unknown, but presumed dead. And the division was squarely loyal to the third first, Ibiki second and Danzo, the current Hokage last. So sending otherwise loyal ninja to find out if they were planning something against Danzo was a foolish move.

He could send them to a ROOT base for interrogation, but it was risky Danzo thought. Some of the loyal ninja where quite famous like Hatake Kakashi. 'The man could have been a problem if he wasn't so emotionally weak, living in the past.' Danzo mused as he thought about Kakashi.

Writing off the copy ninja as a threat, he let his mind spin freely who could be responsible for a possible movement inside Konoha against him because they believed the third's foolish ideals.

* * *

Shinkiro frowned as he read the last reports, Suna's attempts to slowly conquer more of the land of rivers where stymied nearly constantly now. 'Konoha send a Nara… one of their best by the looks of it.' he thought after a moment. None of the reports indicated a troop surge of sorts, but casualties where rising due traps and brilliant plans.

He thought for a while on how to break open the situation before letting lose a curse. 'There is no way I can outthink a Nara.' he thought angrily. He briefly considered unleashing Gaara on the brilliant mind, using an enormous amount of unsubtle force to break the deadlock. But Gaara was not an unknown factor, and Shinkiro realized the Nara most likely had a counter plan should he exactly do that. Furthermore, the boy would complain he had to go all out on 'unworthy' opponents.

A snake suddenly poofed near him, and with a raised eyebrow he took the message, thanking the creature before it disappeared again in a puff of smoke.

It was a message from Kushina, detailing situation in Taki, he was a bit unhappy his daughter went along with the mission, but she it was clear from the message she was unharmed, so he let it slide. With Iwa now in conflict with Konoha, he could perhaps send more forces without attracting undue attention.

'At the same time… Kushina might need me to be able to pressure Iwa should they push west ward towards Oto.' he realized with some annoyance. 'Perhaps I should be happy with the gains I have now.' he conceded to himself after a while, suspecting that was Danzo's plan by turning the land of rivers into a meat grinder for both forces. Neither could really take it, but Danzo had the advantage with the unknown ROOT numbers, something that in its own way, undid quite a bit of damage the invasion inflicted.

He sighed. 'It seems Suna is stuck for now…' Shinkiro called for Baki, and the pair soon started to plan out how they could solidify their gains, and what they could give away to prevent the Nara from having weak points to strike and cause more casualties, both liberally cursed the genius clan while they planned.

* * *

After long deliberation, which some of the strategists under Onoki's command presumed meant they were going to initiate a three way war inside Taki. Onoki decided to go along with his son's recommendation, and soon snapped out general orders to form a line along the strategic geography, creating a fairly large no-man's land between Iwa and Oto.

'I have underestimated the new village' Onoki thought grumpily as his strategists worked their way through detailed maps they had from the previous wars, intent to find a strong points they could make in the land Iwa could use to form a solid front.

'To think they managed to train the nine-tailed jinchūriki the extend it could damage a village that badly and somehow smuggle it into Taki proper.' He mused on, slightly miffed the upstart village managed to do something Iwa failed in three ninja wars. 'Or did Konoha do the preparation and is the supposedly family connection between the container and this Otokage true.'

Onoki frowned, unseen by the rest of the strategy room. 'I need to expand on information network somehow, it was a fluke the network picked up on Taki's distress, I shan't rely on luck.' He saw one of the men make a mistake. 'Lack of experience' he noted idly and he rose energetically.

His back disagreed, and with a loud crack and "ARG, MY BACK!" he 'joined' the conversation.

* * *

Asuma bit back a curse as the young Ino-Shika-Cho trio nearly captured him during the training session because he was daydreaming and worrying again. After the horrible battle in Konoha, the death of his father and many others he pursued Kurenai with new vigor, reminded painfully of his own mortality.

However the woman was hurt badly during the invasion. From what he could find out from her when she nearly drank herself to death was that the stab wound she had suffered from the Otokage took away her chances to bear children, and was mortified he would break up with her because of that.

He would be lying if that did not disappoint him, but he found her love far more important, and they could always adopt a child later. He knew with war looming on the horizon, some rumors already saying it had broken out in the land of waterfall between a three way all-out battle between Konoha, Iwa and Oto.

'Adoption will have to wait after the fourth shinobi war if that is true.' He thought, before hastily ducking, preventing a kunai giving him an extra breathing hole. "Pay attention sensei!" a girl shouted cockily.

He scowled, before moving to counter attack, rapidly throwing a chubby boy into the tree's, before dancing around a shadow trying to ensnared while he lunged for the cocky blond.

A minute later the team lay knocked out. 'Those rumors must be false.' Asuma said to himself. 'They are far from ready for the hell that war is.'

While war erupted inside the land of waterfalls, the group responsible for igniting the powder keg where nearing home, one eager to meet her new home, the rest happy that with all the danger they got themselves into, they got out relatively unharmed.

Guren was worried however, fearing Kushina's wrath for encountering Akatsuki and then losing her eyes on Naruto.

She was right Kushina would be angry, but she was not the target.

AN: Another world shot, I know it's a rather quick again, but stuff happened. Also I believe some people will go 'Called it!' now ;) Sorry it's a bit late… I thought I had this chapter in reserve. And I didn't.

SPark681: *evil grin* Perhaps, perhaps not.

chim3ra1988: Glad I got him right, I was quite nervous about it. Eh, what are the good fillers? :P I am just using the few 'useful' to my story.

Wyrtha: Writing Kakuzu was hard, I had to write him overely arrogant to give the group a chance to get away, because he is bloody strong. And yes, Kabuto, now the question is… is he a puppet, or a puppet master?

Guest: *evil chuckle* Presume 'even others'

Deathmvp: Art… is an explosion! ;)

Flameslavier: Mostly 'This is unexpected, oh hey… an opportunity!'


	36. Chapter 36

Kushina smiled as she saw Guren and her team enter her office. As she laid her eyes on her son, glad he was indeed unharmed, despite knowing that through Guren's very short initial report.

She noted with interested, that an unknown girl, the nanabi container followed Naruto more closely that most would find decent, and suspected if they girl would lean against Naruto, he would hug her without thought.

'Interesting…' Kushina thought, momentarily removing the entire Taki situation and mission from her head as she quickly analyzed how the girls interest in her son, combined with her background would make her a more suitable woman for her Naru-chan than his current interest.

'I will need to work soon on that' Kushina reminded herself 'Before the breakup becomes too painful for him and he refuses to do it, the friendship between him and Hinata is very important for him.' If she could, a disgusted expression would have made it to her face.

After their initial conversation, Kushina had reeled herself back later on, thinking she was too harsh on the poor Hyuuga girl, so she spend some time 'observing' the Hinata. However the more she watched or heard, the more displeased she was. She disapproved heavily of her shyness, only showing some backbone when her sister was involved.

She analyzed the mint green haired girl, her stance stuck between outwardly cocky, but Kushina's expert eyes saw the girl was nervous. The resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. 'Naru-chan likes shy girls?' she thought with a bit of disapproval.

She slammed her mind back to the Taki situation.

"Report" she demanded. Guren started to relay what happened. Kushina frowned her spies had missed that the target team travelled so close , granted she did not have that much info on them, but it was another disappointment.

She listened with interest how easily Guren talked her way to Fu, and how Naruto managed to convince Fu. The report was shortly interrupted as Kushina confirmed Naruto's promises would be honored, and promised the girl to train her herself if she wanted to. Something that surprised the rest of the team, but Naruto was glad he could spend more time with Fu then.

The report continued, and Kushina's interest peaked when Naruto explained it was most likely natural chakra that the hero's water was made from, and she was glad he had the foresight to bring a sample. When they described the explosive tags, and their results Kushina frowned slightly, but bade them to continue.

The underground battles did not peak her interest, but it was clear on her face she was not happy how the team dealt with Akatsuki member. Guren fidgeted at the displeased look on her master's face, until she realized it was not aimed at her, but Naruto.

Naruto was nervous, knowing full well his mother would chew him out for fighting Kakuzu, but was ready to defend his reasons. To his surprise Kushina signaled Guren to continue after a moment of thought.

At the end of the report, she dismissed the team, telling Guren to come back in an hour and for Naruto to stay. Fu glanced back confused, but obeyed the order as Anko guided her out.

Naruto stood alone in the office, ready for his mother, and was subsequently caught off-guard when she asked "Could you show me the seal you used to destroy the shrine?" she asked in a kind tone.

Kushina glared at the seal Naruto showed, the same one he had made in Taki when trying to figure out why it had so much power. She knew she hadn't taught him the symbols involving delays of any kind, so when she heard in the briefing Naruto had made time-delayed explosive tags, she thought he was further with his self-study then she thought.

Then she saw the seal, on itself, with the limited knowledge Naruto had, it was quite genius work, using a combination of nature chakra absorption and conversion seals, normally used for seals that need to work for a long time, like alarms or impediment seals, to charge the seal, exact timing made by another combination of temporary charka overflow symbols and chakra hindering symbols, before it all spiraled to the center to the explosion symbol, before which all the hindering and overflow was released, causing a bang.

Add nature chakra and the devil's luck to the mix, and you are then brining down enormous trees.

So yes, it would work, but it worked clumsily, and worse, it was untested when it was used. Naruto could have easily blown himself or the team up. His theory why the bang was bigger than expected made sense with the setup, but she suspected it was dumb luck that the seals didn't overload and explode in his face the moment he activated them, and judging from his rather smug expression, he hadn't realized that.

'I vowed to myself to never hit my children, but I don't see how I could otherwise make it clear to him he has been very lucky far too often lately. Seems like my lessons about cockiness are truly not sticking with just words.' Kushina thought with a bit of despair as she walked around the desk.

SMACK

Kushina slap struck like a lightning strike "You idiot!" she roared, towering over the stunned boy. "You could have easily blown yourself or the others up with this seal. What if the nature chakra seeped through the entire village, that would have triggered the seals far quicker, what if the nature chakra was more potent than those barrier symbols could contain?!" she shouted into Naruto's stunned face.

"I…I.." Naruto stuttered, still stunned by being hit by his mother and the sudden change of her mood.

"You have been far to reckless" Kushina continued as she stepped back and started to pace in front of the gob smacked boy. "It started with that fight against the ROOT agents with Guren, but you had her to cover you so I overlooked it, then you get cocky and ruined the chance to blow up the Hokage tower…" she continued to rant, ignoring Naruto's flinch. "…and then you picked a fight with Tayuya against Kakashi." She glared into his shocked eyes.

"But by dumb luck you managed to get out of it all unharmed, so I just berated you, hoping it would stick." She pressed the seal he had made into his face. "And did you listen to me?!" she demanded.

"No mother." Naruto squeaked, feeling extremely tiny how his mother harshly pointed out his mistakes, and how he ignored her gentle attempts to point them out.

"And then fighting an Akatsuki agent. What did I tell you when you would encounter an Akatsuki agent?" She waited a beat, giving Naruto an opening to respond, who stayed silent. "Well?" she all but growled. "To run and leave the team behind, since they were not a target." Naruto rapidly responded. "And what did you do?" she demanded. "I fought using Kyuubi's chakra and dragged Fu into it mother." He responded timidly.

Kushina felt the anger she had worked up seep out of her as she took in the visage of her son, who looked miserably at the ground. 'Did it stick now?' she wondered, she kneeled before him, gently lifting his chin to look into her eyes. "Now Naruto, what have you been lately?" she asked softly. He was silent for a moment, thinking it over. "…I have been lucky and stupid." She nodded "You have been indeed, now what do you do if you run into another Akatsuki agent?" "I run mother." Naruto responded, she nodded again and gave him a hug.

"I am worried about you Naruto, your luck won't last." She said softly into his ear. "Sorry for worrying you mother." Naruto replied softly. "Then start thinking beforehand instead on your feet, and don't use experimental seals, I warned you how dangerous it is." She berated him softly. "Yes mother."

"Please Naruto." She pleaded. "I spend thirteen years getting you back, don't kill yourself by being reckless…. I can't take that." Naruto flinched heavily at that, guilt welling up at the words.

'I think he got it.' Kushina thought, suddenly feeling lost what she was supposed to do next. "Well, shall I teach you how to make a proper delayed explosive tag tomorrow?" she offered to change the subject, deciding to add. "Despite the risks, you work was quite good with your limited knowledge, showing your potential." Giving a praise and a reminder.

"Thank you mother, I'd like to learn that" Naruto replied formally, drawing an unseen frown from Kushina who was unhappy he was still so formal with her. Unaware how deep her son was lost in his thoughts.

"Good, go to your room" she finished lamely, realizing she hadn't thought what she would do after making her son realize his mistakes. "Yes mother." Naruto spoke softly, before quickly making it out of her office.

Kushina sighed, worry gnawing at her that she had harmed the good relationship with her son, yet at the same time not knowing another way to get her son off, what she perceived, as a suicidal course.

With a heavy sigh, she sank into her chair, and waited for Guren to return to ask for more details about certain points. She was disturbed that Guren had made it into a bingo-book, while Kushina was unaware of that fact until she was told in the short report.

* * *

Hinata went through the gentle fist kata's without much motivation, keeping a slightly jalous eye at her younger sister who was happily chatting with Yukimaru, the long light-brown haired boy with those odd magenta eyes had captured her younger's sister intrest.

Hinata felt slightly jealous that Hanabi without shame or fear of rejection dragged the quiet and gentle boy around. Using her supposed fear of enclosed spaces, something Hinata was sure she had gotten over with, to spend every free moment she had with the boy.

Yukimaru, being the kind and gentle boy he was, couldn't deny the young Hyuuga girl. His adoptive mother Guren had made it quite clear how to treat a lady.

Hinata sighed. 'I was I could be so assertive with Naruto-kun.' She thought. She had heard something bad happened in the land of waterfalls, the same country Naruto had a mission in. 'I hope he is alright.' She thought, unaware he had already returned.

* * *

Kushina was worried Naruto stayed distant to her the few days after her scolding, afraid she pushed him away. She wished she had more time to talk to him, but the erupting war in the land of waterfalls demanded most of her attention. And only in the few short lessons she could give she had really time to talk to him, although she noted he stopped protesting her slipping into his bed and baths when she could.

Unknown to her, Naruto only spend the night after replaying the conversation in his head, and came to the painful conclusion his mother was absolutely right.

He however had no clue how to approach the subject with her, and kept a polite distance while he struggled with himself, now aware of his faults he spend a lot of time into training, completing the first stage of wind manipulation with Temari's help, who was glad she was doing what she was supposed to do, and peeved it seemed she would be stuck into Oto, the erupting conflict making the long journey far too risky.

Instead of moving on to the second stage of training, he requested from Temari to learn a wind jutsu that could be used in enclosed spaces, but an embarrassed Temari admitted that was something she intended to learn when she came home.

So he continued with the second step of homing his affinity, cutting increasingly large rocks in two while Naruto's mind whirled on how he could obtain jutsu that did not need a lot of space to work like his great breakthrough or chakra chains.

This train of thought made him realize he nearly forgot to search out Tsunade to learn more about traditional medicine, so he could threat his wounded comrades on the field.

* * *

In the land of waterfalls, the relentless assault of Iwa on Konoha continued, pushing the Konoha lines further and further down south. At the same time, Iwa launched an assault on Takigakure itself, but a combination of booby traps and the concentration of Taki and Konoha troops repelled the attack.

For the same reasons, Oto's attempt to infiltrate Takigakure failed, and the only information they managed to gather was that the massive tree that hid the village was gone, but could not tell how much damage was done to the place itself, or how many forces Takigakure had before they were driven off.

Iwa encircled the village, squashing it between their own and Oto's front lines while pushing further and further south. The Konoha line fell back under the expert leadership, harrying the Iwa forces as they gave ground. On the northern borders troops where rushed to form a new line slightly into the land of fire.

The orderly retreat merged with the reinforced fire country line. Hours after the chasing Iwa forces crashed into the new defensive line. The Konoha forces bent and in some places nearly buckled, but in the end repelled the Iwa assault, inflicting horrible casualties while suffering heavily themselves.

The night set in, and night raids lit up the night sky. Danzo's root troops showed in surprising numbers for both Iwa and Konoha. The emotionless agents showed their strength, and the few that heard Kakashi's message, or spread it those they trusted saw validity in his claims.

Kakashi himself was in the land of grass, aiding Kusagakure ninja against Iwa incursions, send soon after the failed battle in order to divert Konoha strengths away from the area in the hope that the battle next day would go in their favor.

Kusa, who usually used a mix of diplomacy, blackmail and political insight to drawn directly into conflict simpley did not have the time to excute their ploys, the sudden collapse of Taki taking them by surprise, compounded by the overly aggressive assault doctrine Onoki had set should they lose momentum, having suspected that Konoha would hinder them from getting into fire country proper.

For Kakashi meant a series of painful near déjà vu's. But his newfound will, and much greater strength since the last war he kept his promise to himself true. He managed to keep the troops under his command safe and successfully stopped Iwa's raids in the lands of grass.

To Danzo's and Onoki's surprise, Oto forces along the rest of the land of fire's northern borders kept their peace, unknown to both old men, Kushina had their own plans, and none of them involved getting into fights with either major village in the short term.

Unable to learn on time that their gambit failed, Iwa forces launched another ferocious attack the next day. Backed by Danzo's root agents, Konoha counterattacked, intent to break Iwa's front who rushed ahead to retake enough of the land of waterfall to free their comrades stuck in the hidden village.

For a few days the borderlands, including the civilian villages caught in between became an extended battleground, ninja's from both sides making advances past the enemies lines and attempting to destroy supplies, kill commanders or lay traps for possible reinforcements.

At the end of the second day, it became clear for the Nara commander that breaking the back of the assault would not work within the timeframe he set himself to free the surrounded troops, well aware that it was a manner of time before a second wave of Iwa troops would arrive. He decided to take a well-informed gamble, and assembled a team to send a message to the embattled troops in Takigakure.

Unfortunately for him, Kushina had managed to slip in several infiltrators, using the dead from the chaotic conflict to plant new agents. A few where caught, and subsequently committed suicide, but they were marked as Iwa infiltrators as Kushina had planned. One of them caught information of the plan, and informed Kushina.

Although a few Konoha commanders found it odd there where so many attempts, they chalked it up to Iwa's backstabbing nature, only Danzo upon receiving the reports suspecting more from the slippery Oto leader.

Kushina seeing the chance to obtain more information on the hero's water, something she saw as a possible accelerant for a certain experiment prepared another strike team, once again the sound four leading it.

As she expected, the Konoha troops managed to punch through the chaotic battlefield, and ran between the rough Oto/Iwa lines behind the battleground to avoid interception from either side. Kushina 'graciously' gave the troops the space they needed. The strike team she had assembled struck the night of the arrival of the of the team while they were gathering everybody to leave.

Dressed in Iwa outfits with the expected gear, a lightning strike launched into the city proper, using the information gathered from the first failed raid to avoid the booby traps around the valley's edge. Oto suffered comparatively heavy losses, but Kushina's main objective, the information on how to make hero's water was obtained in the package of a village elder, who would break after a few month of torture.

The ploy succeeded initially, but afterwards once they returned safely behind Konoha lines, Shibuki realized Oto pulled a fast one on them based on where the troops came from and how easily the Konoha troops made it towards Taki, but the exit was a lot more violent, and started to suspect where Fu really might be.

That still left him the question how they entered Taki in the first place however. He knew he was going to have a chat with Danzo despite his reluctance not to, certain the fault did not lay with Taki.

AN: Downside of starting wars… you need to write them afterwards

Wyrtha: Yes, Iwa is finally prodded into action. Not really thought about Oto expanding westward, since that will bring them into conflict again with Kumo. Something I'd like to avoid, hence that A was being so uncharasticly easy to pull away (tried to find a better reason than 'daimyo') Danzo, on the lack of information assumes things on some fairly 'reliable' information. For the reader a clear fault, but it will take a while before Danzo realizes Kakashi is no longer the fool, since he isn't keeping active tabs on the 'loyalists'.

Deathmvp: Once the situation 'settles' see if I can make a basic map.

Fritter: A bit quick to judge imho, but the review itself amuses me ;)

Chim3r4: Now you mention it, its comparable, but I actually was inspired by the blitzkrieg theory combined with 'strongest are usually the leaders' thing the Naruto verse has going.


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